The Ever Enchanted Star of Cinderella's Wonderland
by TheChanger
Summary: Hikaru gets jealous of Tamaki and Haruhi, but when he yells at her, she gets hit by a bunch of cars! After going into a coma, she is visited by her mother who takes her to a new world... inside her mind! What will she discover there? Read to find out! R
1. And Slumber Befalls Her

**This came from a dream I just had last night. It was like that alice in wonderland episode except cinderella style... kind of... mixed with a little Ella Enchanted and some Ever After... probably... I think it had a lot to do with watching Stardust for the first time actually... hense the mixed title. A little DNAngel may have helped, too. **

**Anyway, no OCs this time, and I apologize if the characters seem OOC at times. This story doesn't really take place in any particular time period within the anime or manga, but I guess you could say its more of an "in between" or "after" type thing. I don't know how long this story will be. I'm planning for all my other ones to be long, but this one may be a lot shorter or possibly just as long, I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see.**

**So I've seen how people like to take the characters from an anime and totally rearrange their world into something like... I dunno, final fantasy or something to that effect. That's kind of what I'm doing, but its a lot like that Wonderland episode, except Haruhi's in a coma this time.**

**You'll have to read to find out more. (PS: Pairings will be a surprise.)**

* * *

**Prelude**

"So, Haruhi, what do you think of the Christmas festival the school is planning?"

Haruhi gave one of her natural smiles. "I think it'll be beautiful."

"Hey, Haruhi," another of her customers said, staring at her with hopeful brown eyes, "Is there anyone you're going to give a white ribbon to this year?"

Haruhi blinked a few times. A white ribbon? She hadn't given that any thought at all, mostly because she wasn't suppose to give one, but now that she was male in the eyes of all students of the school with the exception of the Host Club (and a few certain others), she would have to give it some thought. But she covered that up neatly with another warm smile and a teasing shrug. "Not sure yet. I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

It worked perfectly. All four girls gazed at her with sparkling eyes and hopes sent off to God that it would be them. She had a feeling each girl the Host Club told this to would be praying at their bedsides tonight. Especially the way Tamaki was going. Every time she turned around, there was one more girl bragging that the Host King would be giving her a white ribbon on Christmas Day. It wasn't that he promised each girl who asked him, he just gave them the hopeless idea that it was possible, and they took it into their tiny little brains to interpret that idea into a reality. Haruhi had to shake her head at Tamaki. He was more like the King of Fools than the King of Hosts. Even the twins were smarter than that... usually.

"Who do you think Tamaki will give his white ribbon to?" The girls started gossiping to each other.

Haruhi felt the urge to roll her eyes at them, but she had to keep her composure. "Who knows?" If she had to guess, probably every girl in school would get one from him, and if not in public then in secret, or maybe he would have some stupid love pageant or something. That was definitely Tamaki. She wanted to sigh in disgust, but she held back.

It was a little after the Club was closed that the twins called to her. "Haruhi!"

She had no choice... again. Before she had even turned her head or tried to get away, they had her captured by their uncontrollable grabbing hands. "What?" Even if she was perfectly used to it, it didn't mean she had to like it.

"All the girls in school are wondering who will give them a white ribbon this year." Hikaru teased from her right.

"Who are you gonna give yours to?" Kaoru teased form her left.

"Why do I need to? I've never had to give one away." She'd completely forgotten about the problem of genders again.

"Because the whole school is convinced that you're a boy," Kyouya reminded her, "Traditions can be broken, and while your with us, you'll be forced to think about it eventually."

"You must've gotten a lot of white ribbons in middle school!" Honey cried excitedly from the sweets table.

"Ooh, that's right!" Tamaki was immediately in on the action. "I bet you got at least a hundred each year!"

"Not that many." Haruhi was starting to get slightly annoyed, as was usual during her Host Club hours.

Even the twins were curious. "Then how many did you get?" They asked together in perfect unison.

"Well, let see..." Haruhi didn't feel it was that important, but she told them all kind of things anyway so what did one more matter? "I usually found about eight in my locker, six in my desk, and about three boys would present their ribbons to me in public and four in private throughout the day. I didn't really know who most of them were from."

"But you accepted them all, right?" Tamaki asked, expecting a certain positive answer from her.

"Well…" Haruhi had to think about it. It had been almost a year since those days. "I guess I did, but I usually ended up throwing a lot of them away."

The whole Host Club dropped jaw in shock at her words.

"In fact," she went on, "I remember finding them one night in the box I left the last of them in and dumping them all in the trash."

Her further statement crushed the boys.

"I didn't really need them so…What else was I suppose to do?" She finished.

With that last verbal strike, they nearly fell apart. They stared at her with empathic pain in their eyes for every boy who had suffered such heartbreak. Kyouya was the only one who was able to hold himself together.

The twins stepped away from her as if she were something unnatural. "You did WHA?!" They both cried together.

Hikaru was the one to break their unison. "You could've at least used them for decorations or something!"

"Haru-chan, how could you!?" Honey's sweet brown eyes stared up at her with building tears.

"Those ribbons were some poor boy's heart and soul handed to you on a silver platter!" Tamaki shouted at her, "You can't just through that away!"

Haruhi just stared back at them in confusion. "What's so important about a silly ribbon?"

That was enough to break the boys. She watched them as they dropped to the floor like she'd shot them one by one.

Tamaki slid to the floor in front of her. "She's hopeless…"

"So… cruel…" The twins said painfully from their fallen positions on the floor.

Honey finally burst into tears. "How could she be so heartless?" He sobbed into Mori's arms.

Haruhi blinked at them. She was still confused. What was it about a ribbon that meant so much?

"I know you don't feel much for material possessions," Kyouya said, suddenly right next to her, "But try to remember that other people do and respect that."

"But why do people feel so much for one little object?" Haruhi turned to her older peer, "It's not like it's gonna be there forever."

"That's not the point, Haruhi," Kyouya replied, "It's not the object itself, but the memories it holds that are important."

"Like your mother's portrait and shrine," Tamaki recovered almost instantly and put in his own kind words, "It won't be there forever either, but you keep it because you need it to remember her by, am I right?"

Hikaru rose from the floor. "Even the self-absorbed idiots who prize their trophies. They only keep the trophies to remember whatever it was they won it for."

"And of course to show it off but that's beyond the point." Kaoru said, joining his brother.

"Sometimes it can hold important meanings, too!" Honey quickly stopped his crying to join in, too.

"Like love." Tamaki bowed before her and held out to her a white rose to give an example.

She didn't blush, as they were all probably hoping so badly -and they tried rather often- but she did take the rose from him for once, starting to understand the concept. It mildly surprised everyone, but pleasantly. What she didn't notice, however, was Hikaru's jealousy...

* * *

She was walking home from school later. She'd already changed clothes, so no one knew it was her unless they recognized her face. The block on which her apartment condo was located was coming up when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Haruhi!"

She turned and saw Hikaru running toward her from the school's direction. She could clearly see the Hitachiin limo in the distance, which made her suspect him all the more, but she stopped and waited for him. He was still in his school uniform even though she had left about half an hour ago, plenty of time for him to have changed by now if he'd wanted to. More to suspect. Was that the smell of another Hitachiin prank in the air?

"Hikaru," she greeted him, acting as though she suspected nothing, "Why did you follow me?"

"I was hoping you'd stay a bit longer, but you left right away," he said after catching his breath, "I wanted to walk you home."

Like he would do that. Well, the walking part anyway. Now it was time to show she had his number. "Why?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

"I just wanted to!" He held up his hands before her as if to surrender himself. He knew what she was thinking. "Look, no trick, I'm alone. Kaoru isn't with me."

"Then why do I spy your limo in the distance, there?" She pointed to the black hood very badly hidden behind a tree and a sign. There was no mistaking it. It had the Hitachiin logo on the front fender.

"Oh, they just dropped me off," he shrugged with an innocent look on his face, "I'm not going to run the mile to catch up to you. It's faster by car."

Haruhi sighed in exasperation. That was just like a rich boy, and the twins were no exception... usually. Plus, the look on his face didn't have that feigned aura like they usually had when they were playing pranks. He was being genuinely honest with her, and even if it was a trick, it was most likely of the more gentle kind. In which case, it would be impolite to turn him down. As much as she would have liked to, considering the trick was probably to get inside her house again.

"Alright, fine," she said dryly as she turned away, gesturing for him to follow, "Let's go."

His face brightened when his offer was accepted and jogged to catch up to her fast pace. She wanted to walk faster and just get it over with, but he seemed so happy that out of courtesy she just couldn't do it.

"I, uh... told them not to pick me up." He said suddenly after a few minutes of walking in silence.

She gazed at him in confusion, then turned back to see if the limo was still there, but it was gone. Something was up. He was definitely playing a trick, but it seemed harmless enough. Still, she needed to know. "Why?"

"Because..." He didn't seem at all devious to her. He actually seemed nervous, like his next words would be something he would never normally say. "Cause, I wanted to spend some time alone... with you..."

He was blushing now, his gaze anxiously averted. What was he up to? "Me?"

"Yeah." He forced himself to looked at her with a shy smile so gentle it made her want to question if she really could distinguish between his brother and he. Even his amber eyes made her wonder who he was.

So she thought about it for about half a mile toward her apartment. It didn't really seem to be a trick anymore, and although this was strange behavior for Hikaru, there was no longer any reason to suspect him. Well, it was only him, after all. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad with just one member of the Host Club. They had almost made it around the block as she decided to give her answer, but that's when another limo pulled up. The two of them stopped in their tracks. Haruhi was puzzled as to what was going on, but she noticed Hikaru glaring at the dark tinted windows of the vehicle like he knew all too well. They watched as the window of the passenger seat rolled down...

...To reveal the face of none other than Tamaki. "Haruhi! Come take a ride with me!"

"Now?!" She felt alarmed by the suddenness. She started to back away, feeling a little threatened by the brightness of his smile. Whenever he smiled like that, it meant another pointless adventure that would probably cause her trouble, as harmless as he meant it to be.

"Yes now!" He said with an overly cheerful attitude, another sign that he had something planned. "It's just a quick little ride. I want to show you something!" He opened the door and practically lept out to hold the door open for her, gesturing vigorously for her to get in. "Come on, step in, princess!" He even gave his best charming smile.

But Haruhi was not amused or lured. He'd called her princess, something he'd never called her before, which made her freak a little on the inside. What was going on with him? Maybe it showed on her face because Hikaru stepped forward, holding an arm out between her and Tamaki.

"She doesn't want to go." He growled, glaring at the Host King.

Even Tamaki was taken by surprise. Unlike Haruhi, he seemed to realize what was going on and what Hikaru was about, but he didn't stand down. Instead, he stepped up too, but rather than get mad, he retained his happy-go-lucky game face. "But Haruhi doesn't like to go anywhere! She needs to get out more!"

"She doesn't want to go..." Hikaru said again, "...With you."

Haruhi could almost taste the hostility in Hikaru. Tamaki actually started to back off. Now what was going on? There seemed to be some sort of fight over something between the two boys, but what? Despite her confusion and prior unease, she could see the older twin being a hard-headed jerk again -like he had with Arai- which made her change her mind. She pushed passed his arm to Tamaki in a vote to get in the car.

"That's enough, Hikaru." She glared at him over her shoulder.

"Haruhi..." Tamaki sounded worried, like he might actually suggest she go with Hikaru instead.

She looked up at the Host King in surprise, and when she looked back over her shoulder, Hikaru looked crushed. His whole body was shuddering with what could have been grief, but in fact, it could have been any emotion. Even she couldn't read him in that pure moment of unpredictability. Suddenly she felt bad. She'd just completely broken the offer she'd accepted from him to walk her home, and she had been about to give him her answer to whether he could accompany her inside her apartment. Why did he have to be so rebellious and angry? It made things so damn difficult for everyone.

When he finally stopped shivering, his eyes still hidden beneath his red bangs, his voice came in a hoarse, unreadable whisper. "You never answered me."

Haruhi froze. She knew the answer she was going to give him, but whether that answer was the best one now scared her. What would he do if she told him no? What would he do if she said yes?

Beside her, Tamaki quietly ushered the driver away for a moment of privacy, so his limo drove off, but otherwise he remained silent. He was not about to leave Haruhi alone with an upset Hikaru.

"Answer me." Hikaru said louder, his voice barely recognizable. He still wouldn't look at her.

Haruhi didn't dare move, and she was too afraid to speak. If he was angry, she didn't want to make him angrier, especially by moving closer to Tamaki who would indeed protect her, but then, would Hikaru really try to hurt her?

When she didn't answer, he gave a shattering cry and grabbed her by the shoulders. "So you choose him over me?!"

She didn't know what he meant. "W-wha-?" She stammered, cringing at his sudden attack, as scared of his expression as she was of thunder and lightning.

"Stop pretending like you don't know!" He shook her relentlessly, unable to control himself by now.

Tamaki immediately intervened. "Hikaru, stop!"

Hikaru glared death at him, as if deeply resenting his older peer. "You have no-!"

"-That's enough!" Tamaki tore Haruhi from the younger boy's arms and held her protectively. "You're scaring Haruhi."

Finally Hikaru stopped. His eyes widened in alarm and he looked to the girl, truly seeing her now that his fury had passed. There were tears of fear in her eyes, the same that he'd found her crying in the church during that lightning storm, and she was holding onto Tamaki the same way she'd been holding her ears to block out the thunder. He was horrified. He backed away to protect her from himself. He wanted to run away, but it was right then that Kaoru showed up.

"Hikaru, what-?" The younger twin called as he ran towards the scene, but when he saw the impact of the situation, he halted in mid-run.

"Kaoru..." Hikaru whispered, unable to look his brother in the eyes.

"Hikaru," Tamaki scolded, drawing the attention of his younger peer, "If you want someone to love you, learn to control this behavior, or find someone who can handle it."

The moment he spoke of love, Haruhi finally understood. She shuddered from shock in his grasp and pulled away with strength even she never knew she had, then tore off into the street... She never even knew what hit her. The last thing she remembered was hearing was her name and a horn honking, but when she finally saw the car coming, it was already too late.

* * *

**Okay, so maybe I made Hikaru overreact a bit -okay, a lot- but if you paid attention or even watched episode 16 (or chapter 20 of volume 5), you wouldn't be objecting so much. But as for Haruhi... well... I needed her to get knocked out somehow in some dramatic way, so don't flame me. You no likie, no readie. **

**Anyway, next chapter isn't gonna be so much the real world anymore. I know it's probably confusing, but just let it flow and things will come to you as you read. Okay, let me know how you like it so far, and please, please, please, please, PLEASE let me know what you think next chapter. **

**READ & REVIEW! VERY IMPORTANT... TO ME... THANK YOU!**


	2. A World Inside Her Mind

**Okay, maybe this is kind of a boring chapter, and I admit it is sort of rushed so it'll probably end up pretty short, but it has important info to the storyline and it has an interesting I idea I came up with that you might be interested in. In other words, don't skip this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

"...Haruhi..."

Who? What?

"Haruhi."

Someone calling? Who was it?

"Haruhi!"

Finally she opened her eyes, only to feel pain from the brightness surrounding her. Her tear ducts watered as she shut her eyes from the sting, shielding them as she did. Was it light?

"Open them gradually," instructed a familiar voice, "I know. White can be a painful color. But that's Limbo for you."

"Lim...bo...?" Haruhi slowly did as she was told as she wiped away the involuntary tears. At first everything was blurry, and her thoughts were too fuzzy to be rational, so she believed the brightness was from a light within her room, or maybe a hospital room. Wasn't she just hit by something fast and heavy...? Like... a car...? It looked like an SUV, actually... But when she finally recovered, she realized that was not the case at all. A small gasp escaped her lips at the strange white world that she was floating in. "What?"

"It's okay." The voice said again. Her conscious maybe? "This happens to everyone sooner or later."

She tried to look for who had spoken. "Who-?" The voice seemed to echo inside her head, but it sounded like it was outside too.

"You're looking in the wrong direction." The voice laughed at her. "I'm right here!"

So she looked up, and what met her sight made her eyes widen in a flood of emotions. The angel had brown hair and eyes and was wearing a female lawyer suit, but no wings. "M...m-mother...?" Now the real tears began to flow.

The angel's expression softened sadly. "Not anymore."

Haruhi didn't understand. "What...?"

"I gave birth to you in life," she explained gently, "I gave you that body, but not your soul. Now that I have passed on, we are two different people."

Haruhi wasn't sure she believed that, but she couldn't say it passed the lump in her throat.

"My sweet Haruhi..." The angel said, kneeling beside her.

As soon as she found the words, she pushed them passed her unwillingness. "Am I dead?"

"No," said the angel, "You were fatally injured, and now you are in a coma trying to recover, but it is not yet your time. Heaven's plan for you is not yet complete. That is why you have come here, to this place."

Haruhi looked as far as she could, but all she could see was complete white. "What… is this place?"

"This is a world of absolute nothing." The angel made a sweeping motion of her hands to indicate the entire area.

"N-nothing?" Haruhi repeated.

"Yes." The angel nodded. "That is why all you see is white. While black is the absence of light, it may seem to be the color that should represent nothing, but when you mix all the colors in the world, it creates black. How do you get white from all the colors in the world? You don't. White is the absence of color – with the exception of white light. That is why white represents purity, and thus the reason for the color of Limbo."

Haruhi looked again to see if she could spot the ending of it in vain.

"It's like space, dearest Haruhi," the angel told her, "It goes on forever." Then she put a hand on Haruhi's shoulder to grab the girl's attention. "Do you know what happens now?"

Haruhi could only shake her head.

"You must choose."

Haruhi didn't like the sound of that. "Choose what?"

"Haruhi, you are floating between life and death right now." The angel explained, putting the other hand on her other shoulder. "You have a very real choice to make, and what you decide, you can't take back."

"I have to choose..." Haruhi started to guess what it was, dreading the actual idea.

"...To live..." The angel told her, "...Or to die."

Haruhi panicked inside. She kind of already knew it would be something to that effect, but why her, and why now? "What about Heaven's plan?"

"It has come to a standstill. Your choice will effect whether you go on with it or not. Heaven is willing to give you that choice while you stand at this crossroad in your destiny. Nearly everyone ends up here in some way or another at some point in their lives, and a guide is sent to them."

"You're... my guide?" Haruhi said.

"Yes."

Her heart started to race, but despite that, knowing that an angel who at least looked like her mother would be here, she felt unusually calm inside. "Do I have to choose right now?"

"I can give you time." Her mother smiled at her. "There is a trial you can take to help you decide what to do and you can take however long you want or need."

"What kind of trial?"

"A trial of the mind." She poked Haruhi in the forehead to get her point across. "There is a world inside you, Haruhi, created by the conflicts of the world taking hold within your subconscious. You must solve each of those conflicts within that world to escape, and at the end of the road... That is when you must give your choice. Do you wish to take it?"

Haruhi thought it over. Of course she didn't want to die, but... She caught a flashback of Tamaki's words about love, and how she realized the love triangle going on around her. It had scared her so badly she ran out into the street without looking. She needed to apologize, but facing them would be... How could she tell them no when she didn't even know her own feelings? "Yes." Was her answer. "Will you... be with me?"

The angel shook her head. "I can only guide you there and come to you in times of great need. Otherwise, you must do this alone."

That meant it would be hard, but the right way was never easy, and she felt she needed to do this. Maybe such a trial was what she needed to help her sort herself out. "Okay."

Her mother held out both hands to her, which Haruhi didn't hesitate to take, and touched foreheads with her, closing her eyes as she did. Haruhi closed her eyes too, following her mother's lead, and was glad she did so. The moment she did, a great light flashed and swirled between them, which would have painfully blinded any beholder, especially within the purest white environment.

"Haruhi..."

"Yes, mother?"

"Don't be afraid," the angel's words echoed in her head, "...But don't be surprised, either."

When Haruhi reopened her eyes, she was indeed surprised to find that she was in a place far beyond earth.

* * *

**Oh yeah, now the real fun begins, but you'll have to wait for the next chapter, bwahahahaha! Who's face will she see first? You'll see! And please don't forget to review!**


	3. The Hitachiin Twins?

**I'm warning you now, it's about to get confusing in the first part here. Remember she's technically unconscious in the real world, so I initially decided to have her wake up lying down, even though I left it open in the last chapter like she was in the same position. Well, she's not. It's confusing to her to, so don't feel bad. **

**Oh, and despite what I said in the author's note last chapter, everyone aside from Haruhi is probably going to appear out of character for the most part, and I apologize if she starts to slip too. **

**Like I said before, No likie no readie. Anyway, let's read on.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"Sh...king...up."

"...you...ky?

She only heard half of it. Again her vision was slightly blurred, but as it slowly came into focus, she realized she was in a cage with... "What...?"

"I said, are you okay?"

There was a face in her face. It was rather familiar actually, and for some reason, she wasn't freaking out about it, like she was totally used to it. "Uh... I guess... what happened?"

"You just fainted. I figured you were sick or something."

"Forget her, Juro, we need to find a way out of here!"

Haruhi blinked. Was she imagining things? Was this another dream or something? "Kaoru? Hikaru?"

The two looked at her, one in confusion, the other in exasperation.

"She's sick alright." Hikaru commented rudely, acting as if he didn't know her at all. "...Sick in the head."

"Ignore him," Kaoru told her, "He's just my stupid brother, Hakujou –or for sport, Isamu– and I'm Yasashii, but call me Juro. What's your name?"

It was then that the rest of her senses came back to her and she realized she was laying flat on the hard wooden ground with Kaoru leaning over her like a curious child. He didn't look exactly like the Kaoru she knew. His eyes and face may have been the same, but his hair was hidden by a helmet that also hid his ears, and he was wearing a navy blue masculine ao dai style outfit. Hikaru, on the other hand, let his hair out freely, which allowed her a good look at his curved and pointed ears, and he was dressed in the same kind of garment in black.

"Uhm... Haruhi." She wasn't really that concerned, but having him standing over her so closely was a little strange for him. "What's with the nicknames?"

"Nicknames?" Koaru tilted his head at her as if he didn't understand.

"Are you making fun of my name?" Hikaru glared at her over his shoulder.

Haruhi felt just as confused, if not more so. "But you're Hikaru and Kaoru, right? The Hitachiin twins?" How could they not know who they were?

"Ha! They must've hit you hard enough to kill brain cells!" Hikaru growled darkly and turned away.

"Isamu!" Kaoru glared at his brother, disapproving of the older twin's rudeness. He shook his head and turned back to Haruhi apologetically. "I'm sorry about him."

"It's okay." Haruhi attempted to sit up, only to feel a surge of pain shoot through her left side. She cried out in pain and fell back to her fallen position.

"Take it easy!" Kaoru cried in alarm. "You're still hurt. Here." He gently picked her up and sat her up against a flat wall. "Try not to push yourself or you'll make it bleed again."

"Make what bleed?"

"Oh _leave_ her, Juro, she's already half dead!" Hikaru said, obviously upset about whatever predicament they were in. "She doesn't even remember what they did!"

But Kaoru ignored his brother, only sparing him a glare before he turned back to her. "You really don't remember?"

Haruhi just stared at him cluelessly. Was she supposed to remember something that didn't even happen?

Kaoru sighed, as if he didn't want to be the one to break it to her, but he gave in and decided to show her what he meant. At first she wasn't sure what he was doing and it made her nervous when he pulled up her rather dirty shirt a ways, but when she saw the dressed, bloody wound, she suddenly understood.

"They attack before they take prisoners." He explained.

"Who?" She held her shirt up after he let go to inspect the wound herself.

"The Tonnerre Trade Cavalry." He replied.

That rang a bell in Haruhi's mind. The Eclair bell.

"They caught my brother and I with electric nets, and when they saw you sleeping in an empty field, they were going to just take you quietly, but you woke up. So they hit you, and when you still resisted, they stabbed you to make you too weak to keep fighting back. Then they just threw you in here with us, still bleeding. I don't know what their deal is, but my guess is they either don't care if their prisoners die or don't know that humans can bleed to death."

When he sat back across from her and crossed his legs, she noticed the torn hem on his left pant leg which was considerably shorter than the right. That's when she realized he had cared for her. "You saved me, didn't you?" Haruhi said, reflecting her gratitude in her tone. "You took care of my wound."

"Uh- Eh- ... Well, I..." He blushed a little, and it even looked like he shrunk at the mention. "I couldn't just leave you to die, you know, heh, heh-!"

"Thank you." She smiled at him, one of her automatic natural smiles that just came with the moment. Even if she didn't remember it ever happening, nor what she could have been doing sleeping in an empty field, it was good to know someone was there to help her.

He blinked a few times, as if no one had ever thanked him like that before, but then he smiled back. "I'm glad I could be of service!"

Behind him, Haruhi noticed Hikaru -who had been watching the whole time- blush deeply, his eyes wide with that butterfly feeling. It almost looked like steam should've been shooting from his ears, or like he could've melted when she flashed her smile, but then he turned away as soon as he noticed she was looking. Whatever that was about...

"That bruise should heal fine, but let me check your wound again." Kaoru said as he leaned forward.

This time, although she didn't know what bruise he was talking about, Haruhi wasn't nervous about what he was doing. She lifted her shirt for him and watched as he unwrapped the dressed wound and checked it out, but he didn't seem to like the way it looked, because he heaved a worried sigh.

"What's wrong, Kaoru?"

Hikaru immediately fired up. "Didn't I tell you to stop calling us-?!"

"-_I,_" Kaoru cut off his brother, flashed him a dark warning glare, but then he smiled sweetly back at Haruhi, "Don't care what you call me, Miss Haruhi."

Hikaru looked furious, but he kept quiet and fumed silently in his corner.

"Dear Isamu," Kaoru said in a sweet voice that belied hostility toward his older twin, "Why don't you stop being a jerk and look for a way out of here while I look out for Miss Haruhi?"

"Just Haruhi is fine." She said suddenly.

"Huh?" He looked up at her, but then he smiled. "Alright, _just _Haruhi."

Okay, maybe he was a little too nice to be the younger Host brother that she knew. They were far too different from her Kaoru and Hikaru. They were even fighting. Since when did the infamously close Hitachiin twins fight, or disagree for that matter? Except in their little pranks, but still... Something wasn't right. "Uhm... if you don't mind me asking, what are you? Your ears aren't normal, so you can't be human." Why that came out, she didn't know, nor could she understand how she could say it with a straight face.

Kaoru looked away reluctantly, but Hikaru seemed to like the idea of answering.

"We're oni, little girl," he hissed teasingly, creeping toward her, growing closer with ever word, "We are the Amanojaku, the tempters of the demon world, and we can invoke your deepest and darkest desires! We can even wear the form of those we eat!" At that point, he was almost in her face.

"Isamu, enough!" Kaoru pushed his brother away. "Not when she's hurt!"

"Demons?" Haruhi repeated. She was more curious than scared, to be honest. "But demons don't exist."

"How little you know." Hikaru smirked, not at all fazed by his younger twin's outburst. "Tell her, Juro. Go ahead, and take off that stupid helmet, for God's sake! It's not like it matters, anyway."

Haruhi turned to Kaoru, expecting him to do as his brother said. He looked rather sad about it, but reluctantly he removed his helmet to reveal the same hair and ears as his brother. "We are… the cursed children of a Tennyo and a human man who was accursed of a horrible crime. He was sentenced to a lifetime of banishment on a deserted region. Our mother, Amanozaku, was bathing in the pristine waters of untouched Hitachiin when our father, Nobu Fuzen, discovered her. Captivated by her celestial beauty, he took her clothes and hid them so that he could convince her to be his. She, knowing what he had done, was not happy with him and demanded that he give her clothes back. But he refused, and so she had no choice. They were wed and soon after, she bore to him us, half-blood twins. But she was unhappy by his side and showed it in many lethargic ways. When he finally took notice, guilt poured into his heart, and eventually, he gave her original clothes back. Thus she was finally able to fly away, but it was not a happy ending for everyone. Because holy blood could not mix with that of mortal blood, her children were doomed to transform into demons: the Amanojaku brothers. Nobu killed himself soon after."

"I don't know why he bothers trying to hide it," Hikaru said in a cruel teasing tone, very unlike the Hikaru she knew, "Especially when everyone knows anyway. The only reason he's being nice to you is because you remind him of someone he used to be love with."

Haruhi felt horrified, not because she was caged in with two potentially dangerous demons or the fact that she had been identified with one of their lovers, none of that matter to her. It was because of the tears swelling in Kaoru's amber eyes.

Hikaru just grinned evilly as if it were just a game. "She was human of course, and she loved him back. Romantic, right? Wrong. She was under his spell, but even he didn't know it... until it was too late. His other powers influenced her too, until her darkest desires came out. And guess what the darkest one was?"

Haruhi didn't answer him.

"She wanted to _kill_ him," he went on anyway, "She _hated_ that he was a demon, so she went after him with an enchanted sword. He could never hurt her, so _I_ had to save him. I slashed her into three halves and devoured her." His voice then took on a casual tone, like all he was talking about was the weather. "I can turn into her now. It's quite fun to tease him, actually."

The tears rolled down Kaoru's cheeks in rivers as he remembered his lover, and Hikaru laughed at him, highly amused by his sorrow. Haruhi glared at him. Demon or not, he was wrong to treat his brother that way. Without thinking it through or even acknowledging the pain that surged through her from the wound, she boldly lashed out and slapped him across the face, putting all her fury into her strength so that he slammed against the opposite bars of their cage from herself and Kaoru. Both brothers stared at her in shock. Still despite her wound, she rushed across the small wooden cage and got right in Hikaru's face.

"_Don't you treat your brother like that_," she hissed darkly, stressing each syllable with intense rage, "If I _ever_ see or hear about you doing that again, I don't care how different we are, I _will_ knock you senseless." Her very expression was so dark even a demon couldn't match it.

Hikaru tried to cover up his shock and smirked at her. "It's getting to you, too..."

At his words, Haruhi caught herself. She had no idea how to know if his words were true, but she knew she couldn't allow them to be. So she smiled warmly at him. It was forced, but it was effective nonetheless. Her next words came in a tone that could be considered amused. "I don't think so."

She didn't wait for his reaction. She immediately walked away from him, her anger completely melted away as she approached Kaoru, leaving Hikaru in a state of confusion and further shock. "It's okay, Kaoru," she told the younger twin gently, kneeling down before him to wipe his tears away, "It wasn't your fault."

Kaoru stared at her in silence for a moment, almost unable to comprehend how she could be so forgiving let alone so suddenly, but he couldn't take it for more than that. Suddenly he was holding her close and sobbing into her shoulder like she was his mother. "But it was! I enchanted her and it killed her! It was _all_ my fault! All of it!"

At first Haruhi was surprised by his sudden embrace. She hadn't expected that from someone like him, nevertheless a demon, but after a blink or two, she recovered and embraced him back. "No, you're wrong," she said with a gentle smile Hikaru's way, "I believe she was under your love spell, but it was your brother who made her turn on you."

Hikaru looked horrified that she knew, and even more freaked out that she was smiling so casually at him.

Kaoru pulled away and looked at her as if he didn't understand. "How can you be so sure of that?"

She smiled gently at him, then, just for the extra mile, she flashed Hikaru her best natural smile. "Oh, I just know." Again he turned red, and this time, he practically did melt, much to her satisfaction. They only reason she knew the truth was from the way Hikaru had told the story. He had seemed so proud of the way he devoured the girl his brother loved, and that in itself gave him away. Why he would do such a thing, she didn't care to know.

Kaoru didn't notice anything. He just smiled at her and wiped the rest of his tears away himself.

* * *

**Yeah... like I said, out of character. But hey! I had soooooooo much fun writing this chapter! Out of all my stories so far, I've had the most fun writing this one. Please don't ruin that with flames, even after I gave you warning. **

**...Oh fuck it, I'll just delete you from my review space. I, uh, haven't exactly figured out how to do that yet, but if there isn't a way, then I'll just send you a nice big natural Haruhi smile! **

**Anyway, other than that, please Review and tell me what you thought of it! I'm so new to this idea of fanfiction, but its so much fun! Tell me I'm not screwing it up! And even if I am! I think I'll just keep writing it! Bwahahahaha! **

**-Ahem- anyway... R&R!**

**(PS: at the beginning, the "Sh...king...up" was Hikaru saying "She's waking up.")**


	4. Tamaki the Crowned Prince

**I'm really sorry if the last two chapters seemed rushed. I keep reading through them and I'm beginning to see it. I like to jump a head of myself apparently; I just wanna know what happens next. Hey, I don't plan out every single detail, it just... writes itself. I only plan the big things, like the ending or the beginning or big scenes and events, stuff like that. Anyway, onwards!  
**

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**Chapter 3**

It felt strange.

She could feel each breath he took, even the pulse of his heartbeat with his head in her lap. He had just randomly laid it there, without her consent. Was that just how a demon was? It kind of reminded her of the attributes of an animal, like a wolf, Kaoru being the tamed one of course. Haruhi just watched Kaoru sleep, feeling at peace in her presence it seemed, resting one hand on his shoulders. He was actually kind of cute, almost like a little lost lion cub. He even seemed to purr whenever she petted him or scratched behind his ear. It made her feel like she was his owner or something along those lines. Hikaru was sleeping alone in a corner far away from them. He'd been trying all night to figure a way out, but nothing seemed to be working at all. That didn't stop him from trying though, and soon he had worn himself out until finally he fell a sleep in a curled up ball. He was sort of cute when he slept, too, in an animalistic way.

It was strange to see them so far apart when they had been so close in the real world. As uncannily similar as they were to her Host Twins, these two were at the same time also very different from them. Hikaru had always been the wild one in any case. Still, now that she looked at the two of them and their counterparts, she realized they were almost completely different individuals. Thus, she resorted to calling them by their individual names, but she still saw their faces as the same.

The long ride they'd been enduring was a bumpy and mostly quiet one. Theirs wasn't the only cage either. There was a whole line of them, six in a row, all connected to each other in a tangent that attached to a huge carriage pulled by about five pairs of giant black horses, and there were about three of those rows traveling in one single file line. From what she could see, each cage had about 3-7 people in it. The row she was in was actually the first in the whole line, and her cage was the fifth in that row. There was a window in the back of the carriage that pulled her cage that Haruhi could vaguely see through the four cages before hers. It had blue curtains to block the view, but every once and a while, she caught someone peeking through, and she could hear laughter and talking. What exactly was going on? And why was she not tired? She didn't feel the urge to sleep at all. Why was that? If she could feel pain in this world, then her body should need rest too, right?

It was about twilight when suddenly the entire line came to a halt, sending a jolt through the cages that rattled everyone who slept, waking them even from the deepest slumber. Kaoru jolted in her lap, making her jump reflexively with him, and Hikaru's head rammed into the wall.

"_OW_, dammit!" The older twin yelped, the pain waking him up instantly to full alertness. "What the _hell_?!"

"What's… going on?" Kaoru asked groggily as he sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Not sure why yet, but we've stopped." Haruhi answered him.

Everyone in the cages around them was scared and worried. Haruhi heard a few crying, others screaming either in fear or determination. From the carriages and from within the trees, people came to the cages and started forcing people outside, and they weren't gentle. In the cage behind them, an old man, as calm as if it was just a ride, spoke up, his voice tranquil.

"Looks like its time already."

"Time for what?" Haruhi turned to him, trying to get a good look at his face through the combination of their bars in her line of sight.

"The sorting." He replied without turning to look at her.

"Sorting?" Kaoru repeated, still rather drowsy from his nap.

"What's going on?!" Hikaru cried out, still sitting at his end of the cage. "What are they doing with us?!"

"They're going to see who will do the best in which market," the old man explained grimly, staring out into the trees, "And then they'll mark us and sell us."

"Sell us?" Hikaru was outraged. "They can't just _sell_ us!"

"What do you mean?" Haruhi didn't like where the old man was going with this.

"We're slaves, young lady," he finally turned his wise aged eyes to her, "To be bought and sold in the markets in towns everywhere for the rich and the regal."

Haruhi felt a wave of uneasiness and fear surge up her spine. So they were to be made into slaves, auctioned off or exploited some other way in the market. And they were being marked for different areas? Did that mean she would be separated from Kaoru and Hikaru? She didn't even want to think about being alone in this world. And all this was inside her mind? What was going on with her mental stability? Was everyone like this?

Kaoru suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her toward him, looking her right in the eye with an expression that spoke loudly of panic. "Haruhi, we're probably going to be separated so I can't protect you. I don't know what they're going to do, but be strong. As soon as Isamu and I escape, I'll come for you, I promise."

Haruhi gazed back at him, fear making her heart race. "Kaoru-"

"Screw this!" Hikaru screamed over her. "I'm getting out of here!" He started banging on every wooden weak point he could find, trying to use brute strength to break out, but before he could find it, the door to their cage opened and a man of all sorts of epically gigantic proportions grabbed him. "Get off me, you-!"

The giant man didn't even talk. He seemed to see Hikaru as just an animal, and without another thought took out some sort of stick and shoved it into the demon's chest. At the instant it touched skin, it flared with a giant wave of electricity. Hikaru cried out in pain, but he was frozen by the power of the bolts charging through his body, helpless to defy his current situation

"Isamu!" Kaoru cried, and he reached out as if to run to his brothers aid. However, before he could do anything himself, Haruhi –without even thinking it through (again)– let instinct take over. She tore from the younger twin's grasp and rushed for Hikaru. "Haruhi, no!" He never had a chance to stop her.

She never even gave herself room for rational thought. The fear had melted into the urge to protect her friend, even if he wasn't the Hikaru she knew. She knocked him out of the way and threw a punch at the huge man, a bulls-eye right in the face. It did nothing to slow him down, and she wasn't quick enough to pull it away. He caught her arm just before she could evade him, and without even considering that she was much weaker than he, threw a fist in her gut, dropping her to the hard wooden floor.

All the air in her lungs was gone. She even felt the wound in her side burst open. She laid there gasping for breath, desperately willing the air to come back. It hurt too much to move, but that faded when she started to go numb. Everything around her was suddenly mute, and her vision once again was blurry. It felt like time itself almost stopped... until the air suddenly came rushing back, and then the world woke up as pain flared throughout her body.

"...Haruhi!"

That was Kaoru, but it was Hikaru standing over her. She was still gasping, it hurt to breath now –even though she wanted to cry, despite being unable– but she could see Kaoru telling Hikaru to stay with her, to protect her. The giant man had Kaoru by the waist as he carried the demon away. She didn't dare move, but she gapped after him in full panic mode. The agony was unbearably excruciating, but she couldn't just let them take him away. At one point, she gathered the courage to try getting up, but Hikaru held her down.

"Don't get up, you stupid human!" He screamed at her while caught in the rage of an emotional frenzy, as upset as she was that his brother was being carried away. It almost looked like he was on the verge of tears himself.

"K... Ka... Ka..." She reached for the demon who had been so kind to her, watching him struggle with his captor to get free in vain. They just kept hitting him and zapping him like they had Hikaru until he could barely even move. And there was nothing she could do. "K-Kao... ru..."

The stress just then began to overwhelm her. Another man came to the door and tried to grab her, but Hikaru started a fight with him. That was the last thing she knew before darkness took her.

* * *

When Haruhi woke again, this time she found herself alone bound by the wrists to a wide metal poll. Also tied to the poll by the ankles, her bare feet dangled below her about 2 feet above the ground, and she wasn't the only one in that position. On either side of her, about 10-12 more polls were lined up with another girl tied to it, and all around them people walked in an unorthodox crowd. Before them was a woman and a man who were trying to exploit them in any way possible to get a customer's attention, and it worked well. There were many people looking up at each option and trying to decide which one was the best, as if they were dolls for the pleasure of collecting.

Haruhi's heart began to race again. She didn't like the way everyone was looking at her. She'd never liked being held down or forced to do something. It didn't take her long to become aware that her wrists were starting to hurt, and there a sharp hot sting on her shoulder. How long had she been hanging here? What did they do to her while she was out?

She looked down at herself and couldn't help but give a small cry as blood gushed into her face when she realized that she was stripped of the clothes she had been wearing. As were the rest of the girls, she was only dressed in a single thin clothe that wrapped diagonally down her body, but many of the other girls were adorned in different colors. She felt her innards writhe and churn as panic and humiliation set in. What was she supposed to be on display for, exactly? At least it covered the important parts, but if anyone wanted to see, all they had to do was pull away the covering...

"_Pss! Haruhi!_" Whispered a voice from her right.

Taken off guard, Haruhi nearly forgot her ordeal as she turned to see the face of Ayanokouji wrapped in a blue cloth. "Miss Ayanokouji?" It surprised her, but after seeing the twins, the shock was easer to recover from.

"Idiot girl!" Ayanokouji glared at her. "It's _me!_ Isamu!"

"Huh?" At first Haruhi was confused. It was weird and kind of disturbing to see Ayanokouji talking like Hikaru. But then she remembered what Hikaru had told her about being able to change into anyone he ate. "Oh!" So who exactly was this Ayanokouji girl that he'd devoured? He looked out of his element, as though he felt squeamishly uncomfortable in a woman's body. "Hika- uh- Isamu! What's going on?"

"What's it look like?" He retorted, his glare gaining a bitter cynicism. "We're being sold as slaves, most likely for those pervs who just want to have a bit of 'fun' in the bedroom." Then his glare suddenly faded, as though he'd just remembered something horrible, and he averted the steel blue-gray gaze of Ayanokouji. "Did you... wake up at all before now?"

Haruhi blinked. "No." Not that she remembered anyway. She watched him in confusion, wondering what he was asking for.

He almost looked relieved. "Good."

Haruhi titled her head impulsively to one side out of curiosity. "Why?"

"Trust me," he continued to stare off into the distance, his expression hardening again, "You don't want to know."

So they did do something while she was out, but what was it? "Did... they do something?" Then again, did she really want to know?

"You don't need to know that," he turned his gaze to her again, like he was just regaining his composure, "But if you ever start wondering, that pain on the back of your shoulder is a brand mark."

A brand mark? That involved hot iron on skin, didn't it? No wonder her shoulder hurt. At least he was willing to tell her something, if anything at all. Obviously they had done something to every girl, some sort of procedure that they all had to endure, but what it was, she probably wasn't going to get it out of him. So she turned away and sighed anxiously, wondering what fate lied ahead for them now.

"This form I'm in now…" he said suddenly with a sullen expression, his voice oddly gentle as though he actually felt guilty, making her turn to look at him again, "It's… it's Rein… Juro's lover."

Haruhi almost gasped in surprise. All she knew of Ayanokouji in her world was that the girl was a spoiled brat who did whatever it took to get her way. How did a sweet boy –or in this case demon– like Kaoru fall for a girl like that in this world? It was not at all a likely match. Well, not for her world, anyway. But it sunk in hard. So it was true that she was dead, and that Hikaru had eaten her. On the other hand, she was relieved to know that she wasn't really alone. He must have changed into a feminine form to be able to stay with her, despite how disconcerting it seemed to be for him.

"Thanks, Isamu." She smiled at him, this time with genuine gratitude and warmth. "Thank you for trying to protect me, and staying with me."

Ayanokouji's face looked surprised by the sudden gratitude and blushed a bright pink, but he turned away stubbornly. "It's for Juro, not you."

Haruhi just smiled more. Maybe it was for Kaoru, but that seemed unlikely after witnessing his cruel mockery toward his brother. However, at the same time, it also seemed very likely. "Is Juro here, too?"

At her question, the face of Ayanokouji saddened considerably. Even the attitude seemed to fade away for the moment. "...No."

Haruhi's smile faded. What had happened to Kaoru? She had passed out before she even had the chance to find out. Either he had escaped somehow, or he was already being sold with the men. There was also the possibility that the traders had decided he was unworthy or had perhaps disposed of him or were doing something to correct the issues. It was that thought that made her worry and fear for him the most, but all she could do at this point was hope that he was still okay. It was then that the crowd around them suddenly gasped and yelped in surprise about something. She looked for every possible source, but whatever it was, she couldn't catch a hold of it. "What's going on?"

"He's here." Hikaru said stoically. He was looking into the crowd as if he knew exactly what was going on, having seen something that she had overlooked.

"Who?" Haruhi glanced at him before visually sweeping to the crowd again, searching for whomever it was he had meant.

"Him." Hikaru nodded at someone in the crowd, making a few copper locks of the long rich brown hair of Ayanokouji spill over the young woman's delicate shoulders.

Haruhi looked in the direction he had indicated, but still she could see nothing. All that she could see were the backs of people's heads at first, but then the crowd began to make way for a rather handsome blonde boy dressed in a very expensive royal kimono who approached the line of polls. His face was hidden from her, and although he did seem incredibly important, she still had no idea who he was. "Who is he?"

"You mean you don't know?" Hikaru sounded utterly surprised. "How can you _not_ know who Prince Tanjiro Kinokiita is?!"

"Prince?" Haruhi repeated as she looked at him again, almost hoping that he would be the arrow to point her in the right direction.

"God, humans are stupid!" Hikaru cried, forgetting to be quiet as he struggled to flail out his emotions, which caused his shackles and chains to rattle noisily, "He's only the Crowned Prince of one of the biggest and most famous countries in the galaxy! The Suou Kingdom is only third in power to the Tonnerre Empire! Only the Otori Sovereignty is above it!"

Haruhi finally understood what the big deal was, but what was a Prince doing in a run down market like this? Surely he was simply passing through. No regal figure would spend their time in a place so poverty-ridden, unless they were anything like Tamaki. She turned back to watch the scene, only to find herself staring into the face of none other than Tamaki Suou. She yelped in utter shock. Another familiar face! What was going on? Who else was in this world that she knew from the real world? She had the urge to say his name and ask him what the hell was going on in his pea brain head, but after her encounter with the twins, she decided against it and kept her mouth shut.

He just gazed up at her with his typical princely smile, ignoring her reaction to his presence as though she had not been disconcerted by him. "Don't be afraid, little lady!" He chirped cheerfully. Typical of the Tamaki she knew. Her fear turned into surprise as he reached out to caress only her cheek, almost politely, avoiding all other areas that he could have just as easily reached for. "I like you. I think I'll take you home."

Her surprise melted into annoyance. It figured that this Tamaki would take an interest in her and also be a Prince. She was afraid of what he would make her do when they got to his mansion... or was it palace, now?

"An excellent choice, My Lord!" The market's woman marched over to him with a bow. "This one is 500,000 Yen!"

"Very well!" So he paid the money front and center, which of course wasn't surprising but it was impressive considering the amount.

They started to unlock her shackles as her heart started to race yet again, wondering exactly what this world's Tamaki wanted to do with her. If the demon version of the twins were so different from the true twins, then what would be different about this world's version of Tamaki? Would he hurt her? Her gaze turned to Hikaru in panic of being separated from him. He gazed back at her with concern for the same thing. Now that Kaoru was gone, he didn't want to be alone either.

Tamaki seemed to notice, because he looked from Haruhi to Hikaru and smiled. "I think I'll take this one, too." He pointed to Hikaru.

Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief, glad to know that she wouldn't be alone. He was nice enough now, but who knew what kind of guy this Tamaki would turn out to be. Right now, even Tamaki didn't know that Hikaru was a male demon, which gave them both an advantage, and it would help them greatly in escape. But for now, they didn't have much choice. Tied by a rope with both hands, Tamaki dragged them behind him like two dogs on a leash as he walked on through the market place, Haruhi limping along helplessly with occasional help only from Hikaru, but the Prince didn't stop for anything else. He just went straight to his fancy carriage and pulled the two of them inside.

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**Ha HA! Tamaki has now entered the picture! I wonder what kind of guy he'll turn out to be? Well, like I always say, PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!**


	5. Now What?

**YAY! At last! Reviews! Thank you so much, but don't stop just because I said that. My inspiration is starting to run out, but I'll think things through and it'll come to me eventually. For now, I'm probably gonna be running on raw material, which can be fun, but please don't get mad at me.**

**Anyway, since I got a question about it, this was an interesting thought that I had when I first decided to start this story: having little sequences here and there about the Host Club in the real world worrying about Haruhi. I'm not exactly sure what I'd do, but I've decided to try it, and I'll mark the scenes when it jumps between worlds so that you're not lost. Should I just have small scenes in between or should it have its own separate chapters? I think I'll probably end up doing it in small scenes in between since I have the urge to do it that way in this chapter, but tell me what you want, or if you don't care, cause that's cool too, but let me know. I need your critiquing.**

**_*Edit:_ Yes, I decided to toss Renge into the mix. After all, she is the self-proclaimed manager, and we all know she fancies Haruhi as a boy these days, so why wouldn't she be part of the gathering? I also decided to replace Kasanoda with Shiro, since he was _supposedly_ added to the Host Club, and plus its easier to keep him in character (I've haven't seen Kasanoda in action for a _long_ while). And yes, I decided to make the accident more severe. What can I say? I wanted her injuries to fit better, I guess? Well, either that or I just wanted to make things worse. I dunno, just enjoy the changes (unless you have any complaints for which I will take full responsibility).**

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**Chapter 4**

**_(RW: Meanwhile, in the real world...)_**

She seemed so peaceful just lying there in the white bed. Even the needle pumping blood into her wrist seemed like a tranquil piece of the scene. Could she be dreaming? Was she lost in darkness? Would she wake up soon or would she...? The answers didn't come easily. Once or twice she had twitched or moved in some way in her deep sleep, but otherwise, she hadn't moved an inch since yesterday's catastrophe.

Tamaki looked in through the window as the nurse and doctor examined Haruhi, but from what he could tell by the machinery, her state hadn't changed much. She had slept since the moment of impact. The vehicles that had hit her had caused considerable damage. How she was still alive impressed the doctors in all their expertise. They still weren't allowed to go in to see her because of her unstable condition. She was very fragile at the moment, which meant that if too many people went in and spoke to her at the same time it might make things worse. Only her father was allowed in for the time being.

Beside him, he heard the very slight sound of Hikaru's well hidden sobs. The younger boy -believing so strongly that it was his fault- wouldn't even let his younger twin hold him, so all Kaoru could do was stand beside his brother. On his other side, Renge's own sobs were much louder, an easy cover for the older twin. Behind him, Kyouya sat calmly beside Mori who was holding a weeping Hunny.

The Host King felt guilty for scolding his younger peer for the behavior so harshly. The way things stood, it wasn't really anyone's fault, but if you looked at it the other way around, everyone involved took part in the blame. The only thing that was puzzling and a bit disturbing was that Haruhi had just run out into the street of her own will. She had never even seen the cars coming so it definitely wasn't an attempt at suicide, but whatever the reason for her mad dash, it had done this to her.

It had happened so suddenly, he remembered, as the flash back ran through his mind. Hikaru had done nothing. In the bone-chilling shock of the moment, he had just stood there and watched the whole thing unfold before his widened amber eyes, immobilized by the horror that Haruhi would do something so reckless, irrational, and completely unlike her. He had been the one who scared her so badly, which perhaps may have helped in her sudden hurry to get away, and he still felt horrible for it. Who could blame him? While the ambulance carried Haruhi away, Tamaki saw tears of immense guilt and torment in the older twin's eyes.

Tamaki himself remembered seeing a car coming out of the corner of his eye, and it wasn't hard to put two and two together, but he could never have predicted what happened next. He had tried to grab her hand to stop her –only subconsciously noticing that Kaoru had also attempted to do the same despite how far away he was– but although her hand had been just within his gasp, he hadn't been fast enough. Haruhi just barely turned her head to see it, but that split moment of hesitance had caused her to get hurt. The two cars which she had been in the way of swerved in a futile attempt to avoid her, only to slam into another passing car and become entangled in each other. Haruhi had been right in the middle, and by the time the third car entered the equation, the calamity had swallowed her whole. It was not a busy street, so any cars that approached came to a halt before they too could add to the madness. As soon as the insanity came to a stand still, he immediately pulled her out from under the demolished vehicles with the help of Kaoru and some by standing witnesses, who afterward went to help the other victims of the disastrous crash.

He distinctly remembered the sickening sight of dark blood and torn flesh -not all of it hers- and how her crumpled body lulled around almost lifelessly in his arms. He had been so afraid that death had taken her that he kept screaming her name over and over, hoping that she would hear him and wake up, all while Kaoru and some of the other witnesses were on their cell phones making emergency calls. He thanked God that they all had thought so quickly. She may really have died if she hadn't reached the hospital in time.

He could somewhat recall hearing the fate of the drivers and their passengers, some of whom had been claimed by death instantaneously, others not so quickly. Still some had come away with their lives while a few of them had managed walk away with barely a scratch. Because he had been a part of the terrifying accident, he had appointed himself the task of apologizing to each of the victims individually with an expensive gift to assuage at the very least a small portion their pain, and each of them apologized back. Kaoru had opted to join him on behalf of his twin. He also remembered hearing that the entire road had been closed off. He had no idea how long it would take to clean up the mess they had made.

"Shiro Takaoji." It was Kyouya who boldly broke the intense silence.

Tamaki and the rest of the gathering of good friends –excluding Hikaru– turned to see the young middle-school boy joining them with a small bouquet of assorted roses.

"I heard." He said softly, joining those by the window to look in upon the resting Haruhi. "How is she?"

Some shrugged, others looked away. Tamaki turned back to the window. "We don't know yet," He said softly, "She's still asleep, though, so at least she's not in pain."

"Are those for Haruhi?" Renge asked in a watery voice, wiping her tears and pointing to the flowers.

"Oh, uh," Shiro glanced briefly at his gift and frowned sadly, "yeah. Guess I thought she'd be awake by now."

"That's okay," Kyouya said, trying to lighten the mood a little, "I'm sure she'll be glad to wake up to roses. As soon as they let us in, you can set them on the stand at her bedside. The nurses will take care of them."

Shiro nodded with a faint smile and turned to the window between Tamaki and Renge, careful to avoid contact with Hikaru so that the older twin didn't need to move or reveal the turmoil he felt inside. It was then that the doctor finally went to exit the room. Everyone gathered by the door and backed away when it opened to let him through.

"Well?" Tamaki urged.

"Yeah, what's the verdict, Doc?" Kaoru asked from beside him.

"Is she gonna be okay?" Hikaru breathed the first words he had spoken since the accident. His faced looked rather pale, his amber eyes bloodshot from all the tears he had shed, and his voice sounded fatigued from holding back the noises of sorrow.

"It is... hard to say," the doctor said grimly, shaking his head, "She sustained massive damage to the ribcage and lungs, her left leg was shattered, her right wrist had an open fracture, and she suffered a severe concussion. There was some internal bleeding, so we had to operate immediately. Overall, she's healing well physically, but she's still very unstable at this time."

There was a silent sigh of relief throughout the room, a sign of hope in the hearts of Haruhi's closest friends.

"How did the operation go?" Kyouya inquired calmly.

"It was hard on her while in such an unstable condition," the doctor replied hesitantly, "We almost lost her more than twice. The third time she had a seizure and we were almost sure she was gone."

Tamaki's eyes widened in panic. Haruhi had almost died? And not just once, but three times! And on top of that she'd had a seizure. Not good signs at all.

Hikaru lowered his head to hide his face while he grimaced in an attempt to fight the ruthless tears, and Kaoru put a hesitant hand on his brother's shoulder, fearing that he would refuse, but he didn't. Both Hunny and Renge, however, didn't fight their tears, though the third year was much louder than the otaku. Mori held his tiny cousin closer, his normally unreadable expression taken over by deep concern for the girl inside the hospital room. Kyouya looked away. It was obvious that he was worried, but it was unlike him to show it in such an outspoken way. Shiro looked down at his bouquet with a grimace, and the tiniest hint of water glimmered in the corners of his steel blue-gray eyes.

"Will she wake up?" Shiro asked with a tone of obvious grief.

"She won't respond normally to anything such as pain or light," the doctor replied grimly, "and from the cat scans we've run on her brain, she is in a persistent vegetative comatose state, which we've diagnosed is a direct result of the concussion. We don't know if she'll wake up or not, but we're going to give her every chance we can afford to let her recover."

The sigh of relief and hope suddenly turned into a gasp of horror. No one knew how to respond to that, not even Kyouya. Tamaki turned to the window again in dismay. Haruhi was still as a stone, the only sign of life other than the machinery being the slight movement of her chest as she breathed.

"Haruhi..."

* * *

**_(AW: Back in Haruhi's deep Subconscious...)_**

Inside the carriage was huge compared to what Haruhi had imagined from the outside. At least it was comfortable, if you didn't count being the slave of Tamaki the Prince. God, why a prince? Couldn't he have been a soldier or a mascot or something? Did she really see him that way this deep in her subconscious? She had always thought he was more of a dorky hermit than an elegant prince. What was up with that?

Tamaki leaned back in his seat, crossed his legs and smiled at Haruhi. "Well, I'm sure you know who I am, so–"

"_Of course_ we know." Hikaru spat with his female lips.

Haruhi felt a small tingle of fear, expecting Tamaki to react badly or in some harsh way. But the Prince just blinked a few times, taken by surprise by the sudden rudeness, and continued to smile. "Of course, of course! I apologize for sounding condescending–"

"More like arrogant." Hikaru interrupted again. Apparently he really didn't like this world's Tamaki very much.

But Tamaki just smiled even brighter, as though he were enjoying the insults. "Forgive me. Anyway, I'm very curious. What are your names, my lovely maidens?"

Typical. He was calling them what he deemed pleasing names just because they seemed like the normal highly emotional women he was used to. Haruhi hesitated, but she started to tell him anyway. "Ha–"

"No!" Hikaru put the delicate and smooth-skinned hand of Ayanokouji over her mouth to stop her. "This royal _scum_ doesn't deserve to know that. Who knows what he'd do with the information?"

Haruhi pushed his hand away with a scowl. At some instances, this world's Hikaru truly reminded her almost perfectly of her Hikaru. "It's Haruhi," she said stubbornly, "And this is my friend Isamu."

"Idiot girl!" Hikaru screamed at her. "Man, you are such a pain in my–!"

"Don't mind him –eh, I mean her– she's just a stubborn pig." She glared at Hikaru, who glared daggers back at her, intensified tenfold by Ayanokouji's piercing gray eyes.

"Damn human!" He raised one hand to slap her, meaning to do it. Tamaki made no move to stop him, most likely because they were both women, but he did look surprised by the sudden action. However, the demon had to stop when she suddenly smiled up at him.

Somehow, in this world, she had perfect acting skills. "Oh, Isamu, you wouldn't do that!" She flashed him her natural smile again.

The beautiful face of Ayanokouji blushed instantly and turned away with a grimace. "…Dammit..."

Tamaki smiled with amusement and chuckled as if enjoying the antics of a pair of cats. "Well, aren't you two amusing? I'm glad I picked both of you. I'm sure only one of you wouldn't be as much fun." He probably now thought they were lesbians since Hikaru was in a female form, and a rather bodacious one at that.

"And just what do you mean by that, you bastard Prince!?" Hikaru shrieked.

"Isamu!" Haruhi was surprised by Hikaru's rudeness. Maybe he wasn't that much like her Hikaru. She expected Tamaki to be angry with that comment, but when she turned to apologize, he actually looked rather forlorn as he turned to stare out the window. "What's wrong?"

Tamaki glanced at her and closed his eyes sadly, but then he turned to her with a feigned smile. "It's nothing! I just hear that name a lot, that's all."

Haruhi immediately understood. Bastard wasn't just a simple insult, after all. It was also used to refer to those whose parents weren't married. Something had happened to his parents in this world, too. "Tamaki... Oh! I mean–!" Damn! She hadn't meant for that to come out, but she'd only heard his name once. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. While the Prince turned to her with a look of confusion, as though forgetting his prior misery, Hikaru's prior flustered reaction suddenly turned into rage.

"_Again?! _What is with you and these random names!?" Hikaru turned on her and began venting his frustration at her again. "What hole did you crawl out of, anyway?! Why–!?"

"That's enough." Tamaki commanded, and though his voice was gentle, it had a powerful air of such authority that it instantly silenced Hikaru's shouting. While the demon pouted in the background, the Prince then turned to Haruhi as the feel of curiosity was added to his commanding aura. "What did you call me, darling?"

Haruhi felt a little strange being called that by Tamaki, and yet it seemed so typical of him that she found it easy to overlook. As she replied, she impulsively spoke slowly, the anxiety of what chaos she had wrought with one little misunderstanding trapping her in its embrace. "Uh... Tamaki...?"

He looked puzzled by her answer, like he didn't understand the nature of the name she'd given him. It wasn't really a nickname in any case.

Before he had time to say something in reply, an impulse told her to speak up first. "Uh, it's nothing, really, don't worry about it!" She sputtered sheepishly, hoping that she could simply wave it off and the problem would simply vanish, just like that.

He blinked a few times before a realization seemed to hit him and he chuckled at her, as though that realization was so simple it was humorous. "How _adorable!_" His words made Haruhi's insides summersault. "Do I remind you of your lover, sweet dame?"

"_WHA?!_" She almost fell out of her seat, despite how smooth the carriage ride was going so far. Why the hell would he think he reminded her of a lover she didn't have? "No! I don't have a lover! He's just a friend!" Shit. She really shouldn't have said that. Now her trouble was going to double back on her twofold.

"Oh, come now, don't be shy!" The Prince laughed at her as though it was just fun and games. "Tell me about this Tamaki. How much of me resembles him?"

"And while you're at it," Hikaru glared at her with an evil smirk, "Who the hell is Hikaru and Kaoru?"

"OoooOoooh, you little sneak!" Tamaki laughed adoringly, obviously thinking she was having a multiple relationship behind all three boys' backs, "One would never know you were such a sly little kitten at first glance! I almost feel bad for disturbing this fine skill at work!"

"Shut up!!!" Haruhi cried. She just wanted to scream at the top of her lungs. Why did they have to go thinking such terrible things like that? "Friends! They're only friends, all of them! They forced me to do it!"

"Ooh, forced you to do what?" Tamaki squealed in excitement, and in the moment, he seemed to take on the behavior of a young child. "Tell me, tell me! Come on, please tell me!"

"Yes, do tell!" Hikaru trapped her in a one-armed headlock, obviously enjoying her torment. She was faintly aware that he was smashing Ayanokouji's breasts into her arm, but it did not concern her as much as the smiles of the boys' faces did. Maybe he wasn't conscious of it, or he could be doing it on purpose to see if he'd get a reaction. On the other hand, he could also just be clumsier with a female form than his own male body.

Haruhi shrunk in her seat. She just wanted to jump out of the carriage door and disappear, but being alone in this world was a more frightening thought than simply being teased about a crime she would never commit in her life. With that, she chose to fight and shouted back. "I am _not_ a cheater! I've never even had a boyfriend in my life! Why don't you just–!?" Involuntarily, she cried out in mid sentence as a sharp, hot pain shot through her side, the same one the wound was on, and a wave of dizziness fell over her. She swayed a little in place until the pain was too unbearable to keep sitting up, and she fell forward. She would have hit the hard wooden floor of the carriage if Tamaki's arms hadn't caught her.

"Haruhi? Haruhi!" Hikaru cried out in Ayanokouji's very feminine voice with alarm, helping Tamaki to lay her across the seat of the carriage. "Haruhi, what's wrong?!"

"…It..." She could speak just fine, but it hurt so much that speaking didn't help at all, "...It hurts..."

"What does?!" Tamaki asked in panic.

"Oh crap..." Hikaru knew instantly. He was immediately straddling her –which in his current form of Ayanokouji didn't seem that inappropriate (unless you counted the suspected lesbian part)– as he peeled the concealing cloth they were still wearing back to see the wound she still had. His eyes widened in dread. "Dammit!"

"What's wrong?!" Tamaki was still clueless.

"When they picked her up the day before, they stabbed her pretty deep. All we could do was stop the bleeding and wrap it. It's infected now."

Tamaki looked genuinely concerned. He boldly opened one carriage door and shouted at the driver to pick up the pace and head for a new, closer destination. Haruhi felt the giant carriage jolt roughly as the white horses pulling it were commanded gallop. The Prince then leaned over her and caressed her head.

"Don't worry, gentle damsel," he crooned with a warm smile, his way of being soothing, "I know someone with the best medicine money can by. You'll be just fine."

Hikaru let him be the comforting one as he sat back, even though he too was concerned. He turned to the window and adopted an unreadable expression. "Damn girl..."

* * *

**Kay, yeah, I could have just let her faint there, but I'm kinda tired of making her sleep all the time, even though in the real world that's exactly what she's doing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause I had fun. So please review some more, please! I enjoy getting comments, and again, thank to those who have already done so!**


	6. Kyouya the Elf Doctor

**Just thought I'd let you know that I've decided that Juro's lover actually looks like the chick from the first episode who was jealous of Haruhi and threw her stuff in the artificial pond. The only problem is that I'd have to change her hair and eyes, because Ayanokouji has dark auburn hair and gray eyes. Not exactly the ideal couple, I know, but that makes Juro's story all the more plausible if you think about it, not to mention it suits Isamu's female personality, lol. I'm debating on whether I should change it because I didn't want to use any OCs in the first place, and then comes along this little problem. I think I probably will change it, so be on the look out for changes in earlier chapters.**

**Moving on, I kind of like the suggestion that was made by Tsubasa Kaida. I'm going to take you up on that suggestion, although from what we've seen of this story so far, that's what I'll probably end up doing anyway, though there may be a few full chapters of RW here and there... I don't think it'd be as exciting if I did each chapter half RW and half AW, or one chapter RW and the next chapter AW. BTW, I like the abbreviation. Makes it a lot easier to mark both worlds. I think I'll use it if that's okay. **

**Thanks for the tip, and thanks a bunch to everyone whose been reviewing. You would laugh at how excited I get when I see a few more contributions to the already growing number. Please keep 'em coming!**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The ride was not a gentle one, which didn't help the pain at all. Tamaki stayed by her side the whole time, crooning and stroking her hair. He even held her hand. It made her feel like a child, which she didn't appreciate, but there wasn't much she could do and having something to clench was somewhat relieving for all the good it did her.

By the time the carriage stopped, she had grown used to the sting, even if it was uncomfortable, but the motion of laying still actually made it hurt more because she wasn't used to relaxing with it. But every now and then, it would subside... only to come back again full throttle, just like it was doing now. She couldn't walk, so Tamaki effortlessly picked her up and held her as he exited the carriage. He might've forgotten to grab Hikaru's rope, but the demon chose to follow of his own accord

Outside was an area filled with greenery, but the building before them was a giant metal tower of blue silver. It almost looked like liquid with the light shining on it in droplets. There didn't seem to be a door that Haruhi could spot on the outside, but Tamaki kept walking toward it, stopping only at the edge of the tower walls, then he turned to Hikaru.

"Dearest Isamu," he smiled warmly as he commanded his other new slave, "Please knock on the wall."

"Do it yourself." Hikaru snapped, refusing to be the servant, even though his so called master was being polite.

"I am holding your dear friend," Tamaki said calmly, "I cannot do that without causing her pain. Now please-"

"Fuck you!" Hikaru snarled stubbornly. "I will _not_ be your damn slave!"

"Isamu, please..." Haruhi didn't have the patience to listen to the demon's complaining. She just wanted to get better. "...Just do it."

Hikaru looked like he wanted to argue, yet he knew he needed to do it. For a moment he stood there debating heatedly inside his head, gritting his canines angrily and clenching his fists. He really didn't want to obey, but as another wave of pain took Haruhi, he grunted in dismay and tossed a fist at the wall. The sound was like a giant bell, and it rang all the way up the tower, scaring all the creatures that happened to be nearby. Hikaru looked surprised and backed away.

"Thank you," Tamaki smiled, looking satisfied, "That should definitely get his attention."

Hikaru glared death back, but one look at Haruhi kept him silent. It was for her, and for her was for his brother. At least that was probably what was going through his mind. No one answered right away, so they were left outside waiting for while. Hikaru started to grow bored she noticed when he started pacing. As the pain subsided again she was able to relax for the moment, but there wasn't much to look at aside from the green, the tower, Hikaru's female form wearing a dirt path in the grass, and Tamaki's face, so she started to grow bored too, but usually when she was bored, she would take a nap or clean or something. She found that right now she was wide awake, like she needed no sleep at all.

Her mind then wondered toward the real world. How badly had she been hurt? Was it possible that it was affecting her in this world? She also wondered how worried everyone was. The Host Club was probably flipping out about now with Tamaki and the twins in the lead, as was the usual reaction. Would her customers come to see her too? Maybe her friends -old and new- would pay a visit. Her poor father... He was probably at her bedside right now, worried sick that she might leave him too. They were all probably horribly afraid that she wouldn't wake up again when she was actually trapped deep within her subconscious trying to solve her own problems along side people who wore the faces of her close friends. She wondered if they'd believe her if she told them about what was going on inside her mind, or if the people inside her mind would believe her about the real world. She caught a flash of her Tamaki looking confused, then laughing at her in disbelief, and the twins were making fun of her. Kyouya made a big long excuse for what could be the possible culprit for what he claimed was a dream, Mori felt her forehead for any sign of a fever, and Honey -even though he wanted to know more- didn't believe her either. Her father would probably crush her to death in a bear hug. Would he cry from fear out of relief that she was alright?

She heaved a sigh of longing to be awake, or was she awake and just not conscious? What was being conscious, come to think of it? Anyway, she just wanted to see them all again. It felt strange to be among people who looked identical to people she knew, and even more awkward to be the arms of a boy who closely resembled a good friend of hers. She hoped this wouldn't be a big ordeal to take care of. Maybe it would be easy and she could just go home. Why did she need to choose between life and death when she so obviously wanted to live?

"What are you thinking about, my delicate butterfly?" Said Tamaki's voice.

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at the face of Tamaki Suou, but it wasn't the Host King, it was the Crowned Prince. "Huh?"

"I asked to know your thoughts, adorable muse." He replied with a princely smile.

Typical of him. "Why don't you try calling me by my name for a change?" She looked away from him, trying to hide from the face that looked like Tamaki but wasn't. "Is this how you treat all girls or just the low class ones?"

"Ah! 'Tis a fine line between the Exquisite Princess and the Fair Maiden!" He exclaimed with that passionate tone of an artist admiring his own work. "There is even a tale to define that line-"

"Okay, I get it! Fine line, Princess and Maiden, got it." She really didn't want him to go into one of his speeches about preaching beauty tips.

She could feel the smile in his chuckle. "Were you thinking of your dear Tamaki, again? Oh you are so delectable!"

"Not this again..." The work out of talking made the pain start throbbing again and she cringed in his arms, making him turn serious again.

"Haruhi..." She heard Hikaru utter softly.

It was then that someone finally answered the loud summon. There was no door to speak of, but a hole swiftly grew in the wall to the shape of a doorway, and there stood the counterpart of Kyouya. When Haruhi turned to look at him, she first noticed the long, elegant and narrow pointed ears, which reminded her of the English fantasy elves, such as in the Tolkien book series. He wasn't wearing his usual glasses, which made his handsome eyes and facial features stand out more, and he was wearing a violet robe over a more complex array of garments.

"I'm in the middle of important business right now so make it fast," the true personality of the Kyouya she knew was shining through in the way he spoke, "What is it you need?" But the moment he saw the three visitors at his doorstep -more so Tamaki than her or Hikaru- he instantly turned his attitude around. "Ah, Prince Tanjiro! Please, forgive me my rudeness, for I was on the brink of discovery the moment you knocked. What brings you here?"

"Good day to you, Saburo!" Tamaki held out Haruhi's trembling frame to him with a smile only he would share to a close friend, but the words that came from his mouth did not please either of his new 'possessions'. "I bought a bad slave today at the market. Can you repair her?"

"Bastard Prince!" Hikaru immediately blew a casket in defense, "We are _not_ your toys, dammit!"

Both of them ignored the demon. Kyouya took a visual sweep over Haruhi, trying to find the source of what was wrong. "What exactly is the problem?"

"She was stabbed the day before they put her on display," Tamaki explained, somehow adding some cheer to the morbid situation, "They hid it well with the garments you see her adorned with. It's been ill-cared for and now it's infected. Can you fix it, Saburo?"

Kyouya sighed in exasperation as though he really didn't have time for any of Tamaki's needs at the moment. "I'm not a human doctor. Can't you take her to the nearby clinic for human slaves?"

Tamaki shook his head, still smiling. "You were the closest place I could bring her to, and besides, she's in_ so_ much pain. How can you turn such a charming young maiden down?"

Hikaru snorted in dislike of the way Tamaki was treating Haruhi. Tamaki kept holding her out to Kyouya as if in offering, and Kyouya just stared at her in dismay like he really didn't want to deal with this right now. Haruhi herself could barely fit her wants in there. All she wanted right now was for the pain to just go away. As the pain finally subsided again, she heaved a sigh of relief and swung herself out of Tamaki's arms, only to tumble to the ground now that her wound was so sore. Hikaru was instantly at her side and helped her up by heaving her left arm over his shoulders, giving her enough support to stand as he turned to Kyouya angrily.

"Look," he glared daggers at this world's Kyouya, "I don't care who's higher class than who, but Haruhi needs help now, and if she doesn't get it-"

He stopped when Haruhi suddenly pulled away, managing to stand on her own two feet as she turned to face Kyouya herself. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, sir," she said with a courteous bow, careful not to cause herself pain, "You're in the middle of important business, so we'll be on our way." With that, she turned and walked away.

"Haruhi!" Hikaru called to her.

Tamaki watched her go in surprise, but he let her go with a knowing smile.

Kyouya was confused by her sudden rejection of his help. He watched her go with curiosity, just waiting for her to turn around and beg for him to help her, but when she didn't, he just shook his head. "If you keep going in that condition..." he called after her, curious to see her reaction, "...you'll eventually die."

She stopped in her tracks at the mention of death. What would happen if she died in her mind? Would her body in the real world die too? She wasn't sure she wanted to test that theory, but habit refused to let her turn around. "No," she called back without turning her head, "I won't." With that, she continued to walk. Even when another wave of pain hit her, she stood her ground and kept going.

"Haruhi!" Hikaru chased after her, trying to give her support, but she still refused it. "Come on-"

"I'm... okay." She told him in a quaking voice, but she knew he felt her shaking beneath the fingertips that held her arm.

"No you're not!" He scolded her. "Stop trying to act tough, you're not fooling anyone!"

"That's okay," she pulled away from him, "I'm not trying to."

Hikaru didn't seem to know what else to say to stop her. "Haruhi..."

"Drag her back here." Kyouya's voice said suddenly. "That girl obviously doesn't know when or how to stop and rest."

Even Haruhi stopped to look back in surprise. Hikaru was stunned too, but only for a moment. He then grinned and trapped her with one arm around her neck.

"You heard him, Haruhi," he said as he dragged her backwards toward the tower, "Let's go!"

"But-!" She wanted to protest, but she had a feeling there was no choice now.

"No ands, ifs, or buts about it! You're going!" It was probably a strange sight to the other men to see Hikaru in his female form pick her up so easily.

Haruhi didn't struggle. She gave up with a sigh and allowed Hikaru to carry her back to the two men waiting patiently for them.

"This way." Kyouya motioned for them to follow him.

* * *

**Okay, so that might have been a little out of character for Haruhi, but keep in mind that she's still deep inside her subconscious where anything could happen. Come to think of it, since it is her mind, she technically has absolute power there. She's Haruhi the goddess! Yeah, so, anyway, so Kyouya is now in the picture, and I actually kept to his character so far. Not sure how different he'll turn out to be, but we'll find out next chapter. DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUN! Stay tuned!**


	7. Renge the Foxy

**Okay, Renge is gonna come in now, and I'm sorry for the way she appears, but from what I've read, the kitsune can be a trickster or it can be a loyal servant and things like that, but they're always very wise and intelligent, which -although Renge is not exactly the type to be smart she does make trouble, which foxes are known for- I think would benefit to our heroine greatly. I may have developed some of the characters too early, but I like how its going so... oh well I guess. **

**Anyway, on with the story. (PS: thanks Tsubasa Kaida!)**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The staircase was a long way up, but with a simple snap of his fingers, Kyouya somehow commanded the stairs to become a kind of escalator as it flattened and carried them up by itself. Haruhi still wasn't comfortable with being carried. She wanted to walk for herself, but she knew Hikaru was not about to let her do that. On the up side, she did feel a little better to be in the arms of someone she felt was trustworthy. The way the stairs were going, it was actually a fast and unnaturally smooth ride up the tower, but it was still a rather long way up. The last window she saw was way above the tree tops. Now she understood why it had taken so long for Kyouya to get all the way to the bottom of the tower. Why did he feel the need to live in a place so high?

By the time they finally reached the top -or at least what she figured was the top- she'd gone through at least four or five more waves of pain. The room they entered next was not what she expected at all. So far this entire world had been feudal era and renaissance-like, but this room met the standards of modern day technology and even that of the future. It was like a big laboratory for a mad scientist in the midst of testing and creating. It really made her question this Kyouya's methods, but it did meet her quota for the real Kyouya. She didn't really feel like she saw him as a mad scientist, but sometimes he had that sadistic air about him like a scientist looking for benefits to his research. She started to wonder exactly why he had decided to help her.

"There." Kyouya pointed to what looked like a medical bed, with the exception of the straps on it to hold down whatever patient he pleased to entertain as he turned to a table of chemicals.

Hikaru turned a distrusted and incredulous expression toward Kyouya, seriously questioning the elf's motives. "What exactly are you going to do?"

Kyouya turned quizzically to Hikaru as if wondering why the demon would ask such a question of him, but when he saw the raised brow toward the bed, he just chuckled gently. "It's not what you think."

"Oh yeah?" Hikaru challenged defensively. "Then just what do you do in here the whole day with all this? A planet this underdeveloped shouldn't have technology so advanced. Just who are you, anyway, elf?"

Haruhi turned to look at the demon when the words 'planet' and 'underdeveloped' came up. She had only come across them in stories of future space exploration, such as Star Ocean or Star Trek. Could it be that this was just one world in an ocean of many within her mind? Or perhaps it was only a theory taken to be real?

"He is Saburo Ikasu, son of Grand Duke Yuudai Ikasu and Grand Duchess Etsuko Ikasu, the third and youngest Prince of the Elves' Galactic Otori Sovereignty in the Enman Galaxy, the third most powerful force in the universe," Tamaki explained cheerily, as though he were proud of the elf, "He is also the apprentice Master of Healing and Knowledge, but although he has mastered the magical healing, he is still exploring other methods, such as science. I don't expect that he uses this bed very often, unless he has a real patient in real pain and needs them to be still, or something to that effect."

From Tamaki's words, she could only gather that it had to be true. So it wasn't just a world or a single planet, it was an entire other universe inside her head. The very thought made her head spin with overwhelming awe, and she found herself looking out at the sky from the nearest window. Well it was either that or everyone was crazy, and she would rather go with the more comforting choice.

"So you see, I'm not all evil." Kyouya smiled rather calmly as he mixed elixirs.

"If you're from the Otori Sovereignty," Hikaru's expression changed to one of bewilderment and disbelief, "then what in the _Deva's_ name are you doing all the way out here in _this_ god forsaken place? Shouldn't you be living in luxury in Enman? Come to think of it, aren't you supposed to be the heir to the throne of a Castle in solar orbit?"

The question wiped the smile from the elf's face. "Yes, but…" He paused what he was doing for a moment, as though trying to find the right words to explain. "I… I was accused of the crime of treason, which was never mine, but I was wrongly banished nonetheless, and my right to heir of the throne was taken by my eldest brother, Daichi the Master of Illusions." And that was all he cared to say before he went straight back to his mixing.

Tamaki's happy-go-lucky attitude faded a little, saddened by the harsh realities his friend had to face alone. "After the incident," he chimed in with less of a pep in his talk, "Saburo had nowhere to go, so as his good friend, I convinced my family to allow him to live here in the Suki Galaxy. My grandmother refused to let a traitor –even an alleged one– live on a planet in any of the better systems, but he had already chosen to reside on this, the planet Fuannai, _because_ it is underdeveloped, and thus has the raw material he needs to continue his studies."

"I had a sensei in the castle," Kyouya said forlornly, a small smile returning to his lips, "but I must continue to gather as much Knowledge as I can and study the art of healing, so forgive me of any mistakes I might make, but such things are required for the learning process when one has only nature as a teacher."

Though not exactly satisfied by the answer, Hikaru hesitantly laid Haruhi on the bed, but he remained stationed closed by in case it was a bad decision. Haruhi on the other hand was grateful for a comfortable place to lie at last. Her pain mercifully started to fade a bit as she relaxed into the mattress and watched how Kyouya worked, trying to gauge what his exact expected merit from this situation would be.

"I've never had a true human as a patient before, to tell the truth," Kyouya said as he finished up, his prior attitude returning, "The closest thing I've ever had are the Fuannaians here, and I must say I'm rather excited to have the chance to experiment."

Haruhi sighed. "Experiment, huh?" It all made sense now. First she was a slave, and now she was someone's guinea pig. Was that how this whole adventure was going to be?

"What?!" Hikaru screamed, going on the defense again. "We're not just some toy for you to use and abuse! What is _with_ the higher class these days?!"

It was Tamaki who chuckled this time. "Don't get him wrong, sweetheart. Elves are not normally the sadistic type."

Haruhi begged to differ, and so did a fuming Hikaru. However, she didn't want to wrongly judge the counterpart of Kyouya, who as similar as he may be to the real Kyouya, was still a complete stranger to her. The fact that he was an elf told her that there were things about this Kyouya that she couldn't just assume simply from his appearance or personality.

"Indeed," Kyouya replied, "I don't know what magic or potion works on the human body. I only know what I've been taught and what I've been learning thus far, so all I can do is try different things."

"Oh Hohohohoho, Silly Elf!" Said a female voice with that familiar giggle of dread. "That's what you have me for!"

Haruhi looked in the direction of the voice and wasn't at all surprised to see Renge's face. She too looked different from her original counterpart. Her hair was considerably longer and less restrained, making her look more like country trash than french elegance, and she was barefoot. Haruhi didn't fail to notice the very obvious fox tail, nor the fox ears that flicked in every direction like little radar dishes. She donned a rather revealing dress made of raw earthly materials such as leaves, flowers, molted feathers, shed scales and fur, and gemstones. It flowed and billowed gracefully behind her as she crossed the room to hang on Kyouya with a small blush and a sly smirk. Haruhi rolled her eyes. Even though she had changed her preference in the real world, it wasn't luck or coincidence that Renge in this world would be all over Kyouya.

The Elf Prince grunted quietly, but he didn't pull away. "Lady Moriko, please, now is not the best time." He didn't seem to mind her affections in any way. In fact, it honestly looked as though he were perfectly comfortable with her touch. Haruhi blinked in surprise and bewilderment. Was it possible that…? Nah, it couldn't be.

"Now, now, Saburo!" The fox girl chirped cheerfully. She purposely pressed herself into his back, earning herself a very slight blush from him, which made Haruhi reconsider her thoughts on what kind of relationship they had. They couldn't be… lovers… could they? Or maybe they weren't yet but potentially could be. Was that it? "We _did _have a deal, didn't we? Let me help! Besides, that potion would kill a human."

"_What?!_" Haruhi cried, completely forgetting all prior thoughts.

"Just what are you trying to pull!?" Hikaru exploded.

Kyouya looked at the potion as if trying to figure out the quirks. "…Really...?" He looked surprised by her sudden claim, but Haruhi found it particularly frightening, as did Hikaru. Renge, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit fazed by the startling information, as though it either didn't matter to her or she was proud of being right.

If Tamaki had been taken by surprise by the fox girl's claim, he didn't seem to be upset by it. In fact, he just smiled calmly, as though it was all just a game to him. "You should probably toss that one, Saburo."

"Guess so." Kyouya looked rather alarmed that he had been wrong in his elixir mixing as he went ahead and disposed of what he'd created. Perhaps he was upset that he could very possibly have killed his patient.

Tamaki chuckled softly at his friend. "Everyone makes mistakes, don't kick yourself over it." He shrugged, as though the fact that the Elf could have killed Haruhi didn't concern him at all. He then turned to Renge and kneeled before her in a gentlemanly way. "Hello, beautiful duchess of the forest. It is quite ravishing to meet you again!"

"Ah, Tanjiro! You grow more handsome by the day! Believe me, the pleasure is mine." She beamed as he took her hand and kissed it delicately. "How have you been, dear _Crowned_ Prince? Last time I saw you, you were fighting the High Queen for the title."

"Never better, Princess!" Tamaki beamed back at her as he straightened. "All I had to do was threaten to leave her without an heir since her son refuses to produce another son without my mother."

"Ah, your mother!" Renge crooned. "She is beautiful, even by nymph standards, and you resemble her greatly."

Tamaki smiled his gratitude at her. "I thank you, gentle Lady of the Forest!"

Haruhi blinked a few times. So Renge was royalty as well, was she? She turned to Hikaru and murmured. "She's a Princess?"

"I seriously doubt it," Hikaru scowled, irritated by Renge for whatever reason, "She looks more like a forest spirit, to me, and a 'foxy' one at that."

"Forest spirit..." Haruhi repeated curiously, realizing just how obvious the evidence of that was as she studied the appearance of Renge's counterpart and observing the level of respect the fox girl was given.

But Renge seemed to have heard them, because her ears twitched and instantly she was gliding over to the bedside. She didn't waste any time getting right in Haruhi's face. "Hiya! I'm Moriko Warugashikoi, kyubi-no-kitsune elder and Guardian of this, the Houshakuji forest! You know, I don't think I've ever noticed your presence before. Who are you?"

Haruhi backed away. She didn't particularly feel like having Renge so close. Although it didn't matter all that much, she wasn't quite as used to it as she was with the twins. However, this Renge especially didn't seem right in the head, and there was no way she was going to trust a kitsune. Not completely at least. "Uh... Haruhi Fujioka."

For some odd reason, Tamaki was overwhelmingly excited by her name. "Oh my, you never told me your last name!" He leaned in too.

Haruhi leaned away from him. Having him so close –especially when he was on a roll because of her– was usually never very pleasant. "I didn't think it was that important." Not to him, anyway.

"Fujioka… Isn't that the name of the planet your Kingdom resides on, Tanjiro?" Saburo mused aloud with a curious expression, but his words went unheard. He seemed unbothered by it, like he had expected to be ignored.

"So do you have a last name, too, darling?" He turned to Hikaru, his violet eyes flashing with a familiar spark that the real Tamaki had when he felt inspired.

"Like I'm gonna tell _you_!" Hikaru rebelliously spat at the Crowned Prince's feet. "A bastard prince like you doesn't need to know shit like that. Why do you care, anyway?"

Haruhi noticed the smile on Renge's face turn to a frown. She turned sympathetic eyes on Tamaki, as though she were aware of the true meaning behind the demon's insult, but the Prince didn't let his guard down a second time.

"Guess your right!" He just shrugged acceptingly without allowing his excitement or his grin to falter, as though he had come to expect such treatment. "It is _your_ name after all!" But Haruhi was pretty sure she saw the comment hit him pretty hard, and he almost did falter.

Haruhi sighed. Renge seemed to notice something was up, for her ears twitched again. She turned back to Haruhi and kneeled on the floor, folding her arms on the bed and resting her head sideways on her forearms. "Where are you from? Your aura doesn't feel... how do I put it? ... Normal, I think?"

Haruhi looked to Renge, blinked, and started to wonder. Even for a kitsune, she was significantly intelligent and keen, much unlike the Renge she knew. However, her Renge was an expert on characters and their development. In fact, she never missed or dismissed a flaw or strength. Did that somehow apply to her kitsune counterpart? "…I... uh... that's... kinda hard to explain..." Before she could say more, yet another wave of pain overwhelmed her.

Hikaru was immediately beside her. Kyouya took time to examine the situation as he hurried over, and Tamaki watched from behind them, looking genuinely concerned. Renge looked Haruhi over, trying to find the cause until Hikaru showed her. One look at the wound and the kitsune's brown eyes widened.

"My goodness, it's worse than I sensed when I first came in!" She exclaimed, but when she turned to Kyouya, her concern seemed to melt away. "You idiot. You don't need potions to heal this."

"How's that?" Kyouya blinked in bewilderment, as if he honestly didn't understand.

She shook her head at him. "You really are a Noble," she sighed, "It's bad, but nothing a little stardust can't cure."

"Stardust?" Hikaru repeated incredulously.

"You mean the essence of those burning balls of gas in the sky?" Tamaki asked. Even he seemed to be confused by her claim.

"Almost!" Renge replied, as though she were happy for the chance to explain. "It's the same thing but not so hot, and it's more like the essence of... well... everything!" She held up her arms and spread them wide, as though that would help them understand.

Whatever Tamaki had been feeling before, it seemed to be consumed completely by awe. "…Everything…?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Hikaru snorted skeptically.

But the kitsune did not elaborate. She simply giggled with the smile of a girl who knew more than she was letting on and held out a palm, with which she summoned a small pouch. It had the appearance of opalescent liquefied silver and glittered almost blindingly in whatever light it came in contact with. There was an odd air emanating from it, a nearly overwhelming sense of vitality and the power to give life just as easily as it could be taken away. It almost felt like the pouch and whatever was in it was breathing.

Everyone, even Kyouya and Tamaki, stared with curiosity as she pulled back the cloth covering Haruhi, then reached inside the beautiful pouch and sprinkled a small amount of a powdery substance that glowed iridescently and solidified in the wound. She did the same to the brand mark, even though it was officially a permanent scar, in which the dust not only glowed but began to foam and produce a small amount of a clear pink gooey-like substance. She turned to Kyouya then and held out a hand, to which he responded by handing her two fresh pieces of cloth that she used to rewrap the wound and keep the watery substance within the scar.

"There!" She exclaimed with pride in her work, straightening and dusting her hands off. "It won't work right away, but it should heal pretty quickly. I've seen it work for humans in about two days max!"

"But it _does_ work, right?" Hikaru asked, folding his arms. He seemed to have changed his mind after having experienced a taste of the aura of the powder.

Renge was almost overenthusiastic. "Of course it works!" She growled at him, then turned away and smiled again. "I've seen its power millions of times before!"

Haruhi lay there in pain while they talked, desperately willing the dust to just work already. Even right now would be awesome. Both the wound and the scar began to itch so terribly it hurt, and combined with the wave of pain she was experiencing and she that felt she might not be able to handle anymore. She had to lay on her side to make things more comfortable for herself, but the torment did not cease. No one seemed to notice as she squirmed in her horrible discomfort, so enraptured in their own conversation about the stardust that they didn't even hear her whimpers. At one point the pain became so intense that she nearly lost her vision and all sense of her surroundings. Hot tears stung her eyes and she would have cried out…

But it suddenly stopped altogether. Puzzled, she attempted to move and found not even the slightest discomfort. It wasn't even sore anymore. She felt for the wound, but she found only mended skin. She felt for the indented scar shape on her shoulder where the brand mark was, but found the same thing. "Uhm..." She sat up just to be sure, but no pain came to her at all. "Are you sure two days is the fastest? Cause, uh..." As she wiped the tears that fell form her eyes, she felt Tamaki's gaze on her, watching as if expecting something from her that even she couldn't fathom. Her eyes immediately met his, thinking maybe he knew what was going on, but everyone else got in her way.

"What do you mean?" Renge asked, as if it were impossible for the dust to work any faster than the so proclaimed two days.

"You shouldn't get up, you're not well." Kyouya instructed.

"Let me see." Hikaru immediately sat beside her, peeled the cloth away, and pulled off the wrappings. His amber eyes widened as if in shock. "AH! It's gone! Both of them!"

"_What?!_" Renge shrieked, looking shocked and she rushed over to inspect the wound and the scar, only to find them no longer there. "You're right! But I don't understand! I used exactly a pinch of stardust so neither should have healed so fast!"

As the two fussed over her, Haruhi looked at Tamaki and Kyouya to see their reaction. Kyouya looked surprised, but Tamaki looked more satisfied than anything else, which she found peculiar. Kyouya looked to the Crowned Prince expecting the same surprise as his, but when he saw Tamaki's expression, he seemed to suspect something because he smiled too, but Haruhi couldn't even begin to guess what was going through their heads. There was still a deep connection between the two of them that she still couldn't understand half the time. Tamaki noticed her looking at him and smiled back with that same old goofy prince grin of his as if to cover up whatever it was he was hiding. Upon remembering his earlier reference to her as 'a bad slave' and how unconcerned he was that she could have been killed if Renge hadn't come, she glared at him and looked away.

"Well, that's odd," Renge said when she and Hikaru were finished fussing, "I hope there are no side effects."

Hikaru shook his head and sighed as he accepted his confusion. "Guess we'll find out."

"Oh well!" Renge stood up, as though just completely tossing the subject aside was perfectly appropriate. "Since you're better now, let me dress you up! I have an outfit I think you'd both really look cute in! Come on!" She didn't bother waiting for them. She just grabbed them both by the hand and dragged them away into another room. "We'll be done in a minute, boys!" With that, she slammed the door shut.

Inside, Haruhi noticed it was a regular bedroom, probably Kyouya's. Well, regular for an elf. It had a touch of forestry in it, like it was literally the inside of a tree, but it looked like a clearing in the forest with a pond of beautiful pristine water –into which cascaded a column of water falling from a hole in the ceiling, and from which trickled a stream out the round window, which engulfed the entire left side of the wall and was obscured by branches of bushy leaves and flowers– to complete it. From the window flew a few birds that were nesting inside the branches of the bed. There were three cats –one a big panther, the other two some other smaller species– and one big wolf alongside some other creatures of the wilderness. Definitely an Elf's bedroom, but compared with the research room, it seemed to fit Kyouya's kind of split personality well.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Renge said as she rummaged through what Haruhi suspected was Kyouya's clothing, "Saburo lets me share his room too, but only when I'm in fox form. He feels more comfortable that way. These are all his friends that he's nursed to health from injury or illness. Some have either come needing or asking for his help or where helped per my request, and the rest are voluntary test subjects."

"So why are you here?" Hikaru asked as he was approached by the wolf. It sniffed at him as though trying to smell whether he was friend or foe, and he calmly backed away, unsure of the result that awaited him.

As far as she was concerned of Renge lingering within Kyouya's chosen environment, Haruhi had a feeling it had to do with something about Kyouya.

"Oh, I'm one of his patients," she explained, "Some people can be so mean. I was just trying to have some fun with this demon, and he put a curse on me! A curse! Can you believe that? How rude! Anyway, when Kyouya found me, he didn't think of me as a kitsune, just a regular fox who needed his help. So he took me in and tried everything he could to lift it. In return, I promised to serve him as a loyal friend."

That came as a sort of surprise to Haruhi. Taking in those in need sounded more like the dream Kyouya than the real Renge had dreamed up, but this Kyouya acted a lot like the real one, which made it kind of confusing. However, it really wasn't all that complicated considering she knew that Kyouya was really a kind person underneath the exterior shell that he surrounded himself with all the time. She noticed the small loving blush on the kitsune's cheeks and knew she was right. Renge fancied Kyouya, just like she had in the real world.

"What kind of curse?" Hikaru asked, but he wasn't particularly concerned. He seemed more bored than curious from the way he was staring out the window.

Renge's happy-go-lucky mood suddenly faded into a forlorn demeanor. She even paused what she was doing. Haruhi watched her as a pang of concern rose in her heart. It probably caught a small part of Hikaru's attention, because he looked at the kitsune over his shoulder. "It's a curse that would slowly destroy my forest if I ever fell in love, and if I were to be loved in return render me a totally mortal woman, and I would die from a fatal disease with no cure."

"That's terrible." Haruhi said with a heavy heart. Both Renge _and_ her forest, tied to an early death? Only a demon would do something so cruel, so of course it would be a demon who cast the curse. What was worse, it seemed that the curse was already coming true with the way the kitsune and the elf appeared to feel about each other. There had to be a way to lift it, there just had to be. "Did Saburo ever lift the curse?"

Renge hesitated a little. "N-no, not yet..." She replied sadly, but as she continued what she had been doing, she suddenly recovered her prior up beat attitude. "But, uh, he's working on it! I _know_ he can do it! Ah, here!" She pulled some pieces of clothing from the drawer, changed them with a snap of her fingers, grabbed them and rushed over to Haruhi. "This would be perfect for you! Try it on!"

"What, here?!" Haruhi backed away as the mortified blush crept into her cheeks. Did she mean let them see her naked?

"Oh, you don't want us...?" Renge looked confused by Haruhi's reluctance at first, but then she seemed to realize the obvious, "Oh! I forgot! Humans like their privacy. Alright, we'll turn around, but tell me if you need help!" With that, she grabbed Hikaru and forced him to face the other way.

* * *

**Yes I know, I apologized already for Renge's appearance. Slutty and clingy, well, not exactly the real Renge, but this Renge is a fox so cut her some slack, and lets not forget that she's a cursed kitsune. I'm not exactly sure what that curse is yet, but I need to think of something that has some significance to the real world. Everything that happens in this alternate world has a big significance to the real world, so pay attention to everything. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to ask!**


	8. Secrets

**Just a heads up: I'm just letting you all know now that I'm going to change the title a bit, but only by adding a word, so if you loose this story from your favorite's menu, you should still be able to find it, but I'll wait for a while before I do that.**

**Another heads up, but I've decided that Ayanokouji is going to be Juro's lover by the name Rein, so look out for that change in chapter 3 'Tamaki the Crowned Prince'.**

**Oh, and just for near future reference in this chapter, when I say 'mission impossible' I mean jump back a few steps and take on a defensive stance.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

The clothing Renge had picked out for her were somehow the perfect size. When she held it to her body to imagine what it would look like from the reflection in the lake, Haruhi wasn't sure she liked it or that she could pull it off, but it was all she had right now. It was a lovely white wrap dress with floral embroidering and a corset style around the upper torso. It fell over the shoulders into beautiful bell sleeves cut into four halves from the elbow down that would dangle around the forearm, and the dress itself came down to the knees. With it came a pair of thigh-high brown flat-heeled boots that zipped up on the side that faced inward. Overall, It looked like something her father or the Host Club would force her to wear.

She kept glancing behind her at the two who were facing the other way, making sure they didn't try peeking. It still made her nervous knowing there were people in the room with her, more so a boy disguised as a woman than a female Kitsune. But she needed something better than a simple cloth to walk around in for this whole adventure. So she summed up the courage to let the cloth slip to the floor and try to put on the garments.

It was confusing at first, having thought it would be something similar to a kimono, but it seemed to have a less complicated way of wrapping, which she discovered quickly. The boots were no big deal to slip on either. The only thing that gave her trouble was the corset part. She'd never worn one before, or anything remotely similar, having thought of them as a hooker's fashion, but now that she was forced to wear one as a last resort, she needed to figure it out fast. At least it fit her flat chest. If anything, it made her breasts pop out more, like they were bigger than they actually were. That was a nice little surprise to tell the truth. Although it felt strange, she noticed that she could definitely get away without wearing a bra, but having no underwear was what concerned her more.

"How you doing back there?" Renge called after a while of chatting to Hikaru. She had kept an arm on his head to keep him from looking, Haruhi noticed.

"Uhm..." Haruhi hesitated. It wasn't such a big deal now that she was dressed -even if not completely so- but she wasn't used to having a guy in the room when she wasn't finished yet. She was still trying to figure out how the strings of the corset went. "You can look, I guess."

As soon as they turned around, she heard Renge's gasp and the sound of bare feet running toward her. "Oh, you look so adorable! I'm so glad it fits you, too! Now you don't look so flat-chested! Looks like you need help?"

Haruhi finally gave up. "Please." She let the strings drop from her hands in defeat.

Renge just giggled at her, but it wasn't that dreadful 'Ohohohoho!' It was more like the natural girlish kind, like those exchanged between best friends. "It's really not as hard as you think." She said as she took up the task of alining each string with its correct socket, tightening the whole thing -leaving it loose enough to breathe, of course- and tied the ends neatly.

Haruhi was amazed at how well and how fast the kitsune had done it. "Is it really that easy?" She admired the perfect work. Renge had done it at an almost automatic and effortless pace, like she'd had years of practice.

"Of course!" Renge smiled. "Well, once you get used to it, I mean."

Which meant that she had indeed had years to improve. Haruhi smiled back. "Thanks. Uhm... can I ask a favor?"

The kitsune's eyes lit up like she was excited to be given the chance to help out more. "Of course! What is it?"

"Well..." Haruhi glanced nervously at Hikaru, then leaned in to whisper.

"Oh, that's right!" Renge exclaimed in realization again. "Another human habit! Well, I think I can whip up something! This way!" With that, she took Haruhi by the hand and led her over to a tree trunk dresser and opened the bottom drawer, which Haruhi was certain was full of Kyouya's undergarments. The kitsune dug through all of it as if it were her own and finally pulled out a pair of braies. "I don't think Kyouya will mind if I use these ones." And with a simple wink, the braies morphed into a bland pair of white bloomers, which Renge handed to Haruhi. "Will these do?"

Well, it wasn't exactly what Haruhi was used to nor what she'd expected, but it covered a lot more and it was almost like a pair of pants, so she wasn't complaining, although it was slightly unnerving that they were originally a man's undergarments. "Those are fine." She replied as she took them. She was about to put them on when she remembered Hikaru was still in the room. She stopped before she even got one leg poised in the air and turned to him with the expectation that he would understand and turn around.

But he was more dense than the real Hikaru. "What?" He just stared back with a shrug in his voice.

Haruhi gave him a skeptical glare and rotated a finger vertically, signaling silently for him to turn his back again.

"Oh, for Christ's sake!" He snorted in annoyance, but he listened anyway. "What is it with humans and privacy? Its not like I care!"

"But the humans do," Renge said, and Haruhi noticed that she had her back turned as well, "Their society is too dangerous to go out walking around without covering one's self, so it has become habit to always wear something in any public eye, or risk the peril they face every day from themselves."

"But that's their problem!" Hikaru exclaimed without turning his head, "Why do the rest of us have to be condemned to their limitations of 'showing skin', too?"

"Hey now," Renge replied with a smile in her voice, "Show a little respect for your fellow companion at least!"

"That's okay," Haruhi said, touching Renge's shoulder to let the kitsune know she was done, "I think understand how he feels. From what I've observed of my own people, we're a controlling race, but clothing wasn't originally invented to provide protection from prying eyes. Its protection from the environment. But we went overboard and now its been so long that we've forgotten the original purpose. The very idea has wrapped itself around politics and religions already, and now its a big taboo. It's just a habit we can't kick, so its not going to stop, and trust me, all hell would break loose if we even tried." She almost had to blink at herself. That was the second time she'd said something that didn't make sense to her in her own mind. It really wasn't something she would elaborate on, having been caught with her shirt off thrice already in the real world.

"Well said!" Renge applauded Haruhi's well explained definition of the Human taboo involving clothing. "Couldn't have said it better myself!"

Hikaru looked like he now understood, but he remained stubborn. "It's still stupid!" He folded his arms and looked away.

"As long as you understand, right dear?" Renge nodded to Haruhi, but didn't wait for the reply. She jumped straight for dressing Hikaru. "Now it's your turn!"

Hikaru looked horrified, like the kitsune was going to dress him up in something girlie like she did with Haruhi, but Renge surprised them both.

"But I'll need you to be in your male form, please!"

"WHA-!?" Hikaru actually did a mission impossible.

"How did you know?" Haruhi was not as surprised or panicked as Hikaru, but it was still rather ironic that this Renge could actually see through such a perfect disguise when the Renge in the real world couldn't even tell that Haruhi herself was actually female.

"I'm a kitsune, honey!" Renge replied with a gentle tap on Haruhi's nose, "And an old one at that. I grew my eighth tail around my 2,856th year, and with each tail I've gained a new ability, so I know a demon when I see one and I can tell what kind. I can even see through any disguise! But enough about that!" She turned back to Hikaru. "Change, now, dress after! No one can see you in here, so stop worrying!"

Hikaru sighed in exasperation, but he didn't seem to have a problem with getting naked in front of them. "Fine..." Then the form of Ayanokouji slowly morphed back into the Isamu version of Hikaru, and he reached out one hand and tore off the blue cloth he was currently dressed in.

As he did that, Haruhi immediately turned away.

Hikaru seemed to notice. "I didn't say you couldn't look. I don't care anyhow."

"That doesn't mean I'm going to." Haruhi continued to look in the opposite direction.

"Aren't you even a little bit curious?" He egged on. Either he really wanted her to look, or he was just teasing her.

"Not really," Haruhi replied easily, "I'm still a virgin in most aspects and I'm not ready to spoil that just yet."

"Is that so?" There was an evil undertone to Hikaru's reply, like he was scheming something vicious.

"Less talk, more dressing!" Renge interrupted. "Put this on!"

Hikaru's tone bothered Haruhi, but she wasn't scared. Whatever he was planning, she was confident that with his promise to his brother, he wouldn't hurt her. She walked toward the door with the idea of showing Tamaki and Kyouya, but then she heard their voices on the other side and leaned into the door to listen.

"...What are you going to do?" Kyouya was saying.

"Nothing," Tamaki replied in his casual manner, "I'm just going to see how things go."

"Great Lady Amateratsu is not going to like having a demon in the palace," Kyouya cautioned, "And I don't think Lord Yasuo would appreciate it much either."

"Grandmother won't know at first glance," Tamaki assured calmly, "And father doesn't interfere with my affairs."

"But when she finds out, Tanjiro, she's not going to take it lightly," Kyouya insisted, "Whatever punishment she exacts on you, it will either be direct or she'll destroy your demon."

"That's not going to happen, dear Saburo," Tamaki said with a huge load of confidence and probably a big smile on his face, "She agreed to keep me because I am the only heir to the throne, and if anything were to happen to me, or if I were to back out -which I can freely do if I so wish to- there will be no one to take the throne if my father is to pass on, and father is currently ruling without a Queen, so he has no means with which to reproduce another son, and he refuses to marry until the woman he loved -my mother- is by his side again. So that poses a problem and a threat to the Grand Queen's kingdom. Therefore, the right to my own privileges is mine to keep, and no punishment can be sentenced upon my head."

Kyouya was silent for a short moment. Haruhi envisioned him bowing his head in a knowing smile with closed eyes, like the real Kyouya would do whenever Tamaki said something like that. "What about the slave girl?"

"Ah, Miss Haruhi..." Tamaki sighed, breathing in her name like it was a breath of fresh air that he hadn't had in a while, "She's a special one. I know it's her, Saburo."

"The one that silly monk told you of?" Kyouya asked with an underlying tone of amusement.

"Yes!" Tamaki said with even more confidence. "She's the one, I can feel it. There is a powerful aura surrounding that girl. Did you not see how she healed herself? And don't forget. She wasn't able to walk with that wound before we came here, and then suddenly she can walk away like it doesn't even bother her? She's definitely the _Deva_."

There was the sound of a silent amused exhale of breath from Kyouya. "Well, empathy does tell all, doesn't it?" His tone suggested that he was teasing.

Haruhi pulled away from the door. She didn't want to hear anymore of their conversation. This world's Tamaki was empathic? Shit, that meant she couldn't hide anything from him. On top of that, he knew about Hikaru. And what was this about herself being a _Deva_? What exactly was a _Deva_, anyway? It was all too much to take in. She turned away and headed for the lake.

Upon sitting down at the water's edge, she was approached by the panther. He actually rubbed against her like a domesticated house cat. She took that to mean he wanted her to pet him, so she stroked the black fur of his head and found that he was very soft, and very muscular. As soon as she gave him the attention he wanted, he plopped himself next to her and rested his head and one paw in her lap like a tame dog. She smiled at him as she continued to oblige to his request. As she did, she noticed that his long beautiful tail was split into two. How unusual for a panther. Was that a birth defect, maybe?

"How's this one?" Renge's voice said from rather close by -as in right next to her.

Haruhi jumped slightly and noticed the reflection of Renge standing behind a fully dressed Hikaru in his true form. He was wearing a slightly harajuku attire similar to the original ao dai outfit he'd worn before they were separated from Kaoru, but this time in red and more complex, which surprised her, but only a little. She hadn't expect the kitsune to pick something that didn't seem to be her cup of tea. However, she had to admit that he did look good in a feminine gothic punk fashion style.

"Well I like it," Hikaru replied, admiring himself in the water, "But how will it look on my female form?"

"I think it'll look just fine!" Renge replied.

"Doesn't really matter," Haruhi said, regaining her composure quickly as she looked up at them from the water, "They know."

"What do you mean?" Hikaru looked to her.

"I mean the Prince is empathic," Haruhi answered, continuing to pet her new friend, "So he knows you're a demon, which means he probably knows your male, and he's already told Kyouya."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I overheard them by the door."

But Hikaru just snorted. "Doesn't surprise me, really, though I'm a little upset that he told."

Haruhi was surprised that he wasn't freaking out like he had when Renge announced that she knew. "Why are you so calm all of a sudden?"

"Well, almost everyone knows that Prince Tanjiro is empathic," Renge said, "His father is a powerful Psionic Master, so it comes as no surprise."

"Least I don't have to be female, anymore," Hikaru commented calmly, and finally he turned away from his reflection, "Okay, I'm ready. Let's go."

* * *

**Well that was fun. I wonder how Kyouya and Tamaki will react? That panther is gonna make another appearance so be prepared, and by the way, a cat having two tails means its a demon called nekomata, which literally translates into 'forked cat'. **

**Sorry for the meager description of Hikaru's new outfit, but I'm tired beyond all reason and its 5:33 in the morning right now, so I can't think to save my soul. I'll edit a little tomorrow. **

**Anyway, please don't forget to review!**


	9. To Find a Demon

**Okay so I decided to change the story title before putting up this chapter, only because it took me so long to think of a good way to continue. Sorry for making you wait. Major issues with writer's block, my urge to write died, and I got reacquainted with my PS2. Also, when I did the grammar editing while the site was updating its sources, it screwed up a lot of what I edited so I got pissed and... well... but I finally fixed that problem and now I feel better and I'm ready to start writing again. I think I kinda needed the break cause now ideas are pouring into my head like crazy. I hope you're all still willing to read cause its gonna get good from here out I guarantee it. **

**Last chapter has had a little grammar and sentence editing, btw, but unless you didn't understand what was happening in some part of the scene, its really not worth going back to read. It's more for my peace of mind when I do such minor editing. The other chapters, however, have had a lot of editing done, and some places have been rearranged or had something added, so it may be worth while to go re-read what you've already read, especially because some areas (as I noticed while reading through what I've written already so far) where a little confusing. Oh, and chapters may grow longer (meaning over 2,000 words) just to warn you.**

**BTW, I was about to pass out from lack of sleep when I wrote the last chapter (though I've recently done some editing to it), so I forgot to tell you that a Deva is an actual term for the deities in Hinduism, or in Buddhism a supernatural entity, but today it is more associated with elemental spirit beings. That's just what wikipedia says though. You might have to look it up somewhere else for a better definition. I'm not gonna ruin what it means in this story though. You'll have to keep reading to find out.**

**Again, sorry. I hope none of you lost track of this story either. Review to let me know that your still reading.**

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"Oh my..."

As soon as the three finally exited Kyouya's elven bedroom, the two men waiting outside immediately turned to see them and were met with the surprise of a male demon replacing the female slave that Tamaki had bought, but neither of them seemed very shocked. Of course, that reaction didn't surprise the three either.

"Don't they both just look so ravishing?!" Renge squealed, as though nothing were out of place.

"I must say, Katsumi, you have such fine eyes for what style suites whom most." Tamaki smiled, following the kitsune's lead.

Kyouya -although he seemed to be on same page as the other two- apparently didn't feel it as necessary to ignore the obvious so bluntly. "You didn't tell me your demon was a _male_ Amanojaku."

Tamaki just smiled at him and shrugged. "I guess empathy can't tell us _everything_."

Haruhi tried not to glare. It really bothered her how they were withholding information so important. Then again, did it really matter? If she were so special, shouldn't she be aware of it? Wouldn't she feel it or something? They had been nice to her so far, despite what they were trying to hide, but there was still a good chance that it was all just a trick. Maybe there was some kind of conspiracy going on. Whatever this _Deva_ was, it must be something -or someone- important. As uninterested in the conversation as she was in determining genders, she turned away as her new panther friend came to greet her in farewell.

"So I guess this means you're gonna separate us now, huh?" Hikaru retorted. His tone was casual but there was an element to his facial features that told Haruhi he was only playing along with the game of trickery.

"And why would I do that?" Tamaki chuckled at him as though that idea were absurd.

"Well, I wasn't what you expected, was I?" Hikaru replied with a small shrug. "I'm just curious as to what you're planning to do now."

"Oh, you mean what my ideal agenda of today was," the Crowned Prince said, and obligingly he went on to explain, "Well, I was on my way home from a journey to the northern Kingdom when I heard about a slave auction and decided to drop by. That's when I discovered the two of you. Now I'm thinking of taking a detour to see the Oracle of Kotoko."

That grabbed Haruhi's attention. She held back a gasp and half turned her head to tune back into the conversation. Kotoko was her mother's name. Did he mean the angel who'd sent her to this place? If she followed him whether he was a good person or not, would she meet the angel again?

"Kotoko Village, eh?" Hikaru said with a swift glance back at the girl as if to note her reaction to the name. "Taking both of us, are you?"

"I'm planning to..." Tamaki closed his eyes and turned to the nearest window in an artful pose like he often liked to, then cocked his head over one shoulder and opened one eye, "...Unless you decide to run away, that is."

Hikaru's chin lowered to his chest with a piercing smirk, almost as if goading the Prince on. "What'll you do if we did?"

"Now _that_ is the question, isn't it?" Tamaki half turned to smile at the demon again, but his gaze drifted from Hikaru and landed on Haruhi as if asking for her opinion, maybe because he'd noticed her earlier reaction to the name of the Village of the so-called Oracle.

But Haruhi wasn't interested in his mind games. This time she didn't hold back the glare that soured her normally warm featured face, and she stepped closer to Hikaru, who reached out protectively to her and fastened an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to him just to shove his victory in Tamaki's face. She let him do it without objection. So far, the demon and the kitsune were the only ones to have shown her true honesty, but Hikaru had also displayed loyalty to his brother through the desire to protect her in the face of danger, despite being colder than his twin. That made her feel closer to him than anyone else in the room. Whatever he decided to do to get away, she would follow (unless she had plans of her own of course). She really felt uncomfortable with all the secrecy which projected an ominous disquiet that upset her.

For once, the Crowned Prince seemed surprised by her reaction, as though he hadn't expected her to behave in such a way. Maybe he was confused by the fact that she trusted a demon over a Prince. He actually seemed unpleased with her decision to follow Hikaru and not him. In fact, it wiped the smile from his face. Whatever the _Deva_ thing he believed her to be, he must've been counting on her to automatically trust him or choose him or something to that effect. Well, he was definitely stupid like her Tamaki. She took satisfaction in his distress. Finally, it seemed he wasn't so powerful or untouchable after all. She noticed Kyouya frown at Tamaki as though he knew what was going on in the Prince's head, which she had no doubt he did.

"Why don't you go to the old Shaman Monk before you go to Kotoko, Tanjiro?" The Elf suggested sympathetically. "Maybe he has an update for you."

"Yeah..." even Tamaki's upbeat tone died into a flustered murmur, "I think I'll do that..." he turned away and headed down the stairs. He didn't even turn back to call his new 'products' to him. He simply vanished down the spiral of steps as if not even expecting them to follow him.

"Guess that means we're free!" Hikaru grinned sharply in triumph.

Haruhi, on the other hand, felt something wasn't right. They were being set free, as if the Crowned Prince had rescued them and didn't at all own them as property, but why just them? He was a rich Prince. He could have bought the entire auction of slaves and freed them.

"He's really not such a bad person," Kyouya said as he went back to his research, "It may not be as powerful as the Kingdom of Tonnerre, but the Suou Kingdom has the best protection money can buy. If you don't trust them, then the Elven country Otori -my Kingdom- can help. We're not as powerful, but none can match us either. Or you could stay here in the Houshakuji forest. No one would find you here."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Hikaru answered with a cocky attitude, ecstatic over his success in freeing himself and his companion from slavery with mere words, "We can handle ourselves."

Haruhi wasn't so sure of that, but she'd rather be able to make her own decisions without being under someone else's power.

"You should go with him." Renge said from behind them.

"And why's that?" Hikaru glared at her as if that were the most ridiculous thing he'd heard from her yet.

"Because not only can he protect you while you travel," the kitsune replied, her happy-go-lucky tone turning serious, "But it will benefit you in more ways than one."

"Like what?" The demon spat with distrust.

"Like finding your friend," Renge smiled, her words making both of their eyes widen, "You were separated before you were put on sale, right? It'll take longer to reunite if you're on your own."

Memories of the demon Kaoru and her own Kaoru flashed through Haruhi's mind as she weighed the cons and pros.

"You know where he is, don't you fox girl?" Hikaru's victorious smile faded into a frown of indignation. "Tell me!" He tried to charge forward with a great burst of speed, but somehow, Haruhi grabbed his wrist just in time and managed to shove him behind her, surprising not just herself, but Hikaru as well. "Haruhi?"

"Are you sure?" Haruhi ignored him. "_Do_ you know where he is?"

"I know not his exact location," the kitsune replied, her brown eyes focused on Haruhi, "But I can tell you for certain that you will head his way and find him only if you go with the Crowned Prince of Suou."

It wasn't that Haruhi didn't trust the judgment of a wise kitsune, it was just that she didn't like being kept in the dark like Tamaki had been doing thus far. Maybe he wasn't a bad person, but he definitely had his faults. Of course she wanted to find Kaoru or at least be sure that he was safe, but life with a secretive Tamaki empath was going to be annoying. Well, it might not be all bad. She just had to be open with him, and maybe that would encourage him to be open with her.

"Haruhi, please no." Hikaru whined. After his little victory, he wasn't the kind of demon to just give in and pass his success on to the one he'd taken it from.

"Sorry, Isamu," she turned toward the stairs, "but it's for Juro." With that, she took off toward the base of the Tower, dragging the demon behind her the whole way.

As Tamaki forlornly stepped into his royal carriage, the sound of footsteps made him stop and turn to look, only to be taken completely by surprise to see the two people who had just blown him off a moment ago.

Hikaru glared with frustration at the Prince, and Haruhi's glare was a warning. "We'll go with you."

He seemed overjoyed by the decision of his precious '_Deva_'. "Well, then, by all means-"

"Don't get carried away," Haruhi cut him off before he could revert to his Princely self, "I'm not going because of you. It's for our friend, but I will not tolerate being kept in the dark like you've been doing. We'll follow you only on the condition that you put the secrets aside."

With that said, Tamaki's joy faded again, but he didn't seem quite as upset as when he had left. "Very well," he nodded, and held out an offered hand to her, "Then I'll tell you what I know as we make for Old Monk Shigeo's tent. It's on the way to Kotoko. And..." his violet gaze lit up with hope, "Perhaps... you will tell me about you?"

"Aw, are you serious?!" Hikaru whined again, and glared at Haruhi for his 'misfortune'. "Haruhi!"

"If you want to find your brother," Haruhi hissed at him irritably, "Then you'll shut up and get in the carriage."

Hikaru's glare hardened. If it weren't for his promise to his brother, he might have left her then and there. "...Dammit..." But he followed her as she took the hand of the Crown Prince.

* * *

**(_RW_)**

She hadn't gotten any worse, but neither did she get any better.

It was hard to keep going to class and work the Club without her beside them. It had been a week and a half now, and still no progress was made in Haruhi's recovery. Because of that, the doctors were considering just letting her go, but there was no way her father nor the Host Club was going to stand for it. She was still unstable, but it seemed like every time there was someone beside her that she loved she would start to stabilize, but only for a short time. It was like she knew they were there and responded to their presence, but then she would slip. It was driving him crazy. Why wasn't she getting better?

Hikaru stared at her, his head resting sideways on his crossed arms on the bed sheets, while seated by her bedside. Fifth period was going on right now, but he found it increasingly hard to concentrate without her in class. It was even worse knowing she wasn't there at the Host Club, especially when her customers kept asking for her. Everywhere he went, he was reminded of her and the fact that she was no longer there to greet him with the usual scowl on her adorable face.

In short, life was boring without her. What would he do if she really didn't come out of this coma?

"Skipping school, now, are you?"

Hikaru turned to see Haruhi's father walk into the room in full women's attire.

"…Ranka…?" What was he doing here during work hours?

"I always come during lunch breaks, but as far as I know, students aren't allowed to leave the campus during school hours." The okama said as he pulled up a chair for himself on the other side of Haruhi's bed.

Hikaru didn't reply. He knew it was against school rules to skip class or leave campus before the day was over -especially for freshman like him- but what else could he do? His grades were slipping already, so it wasn't like there was much that could be done. Seeing Haruhi's unconscious form lying there, still alive but dormant, gave him hope that maybe she would start to recover. Then he could apologize. It was his fault that this had happened in the first place. He hadn't meant for her to get hurt of course, but it still happened, and all because he reacted badly (again). He was beginning to think that his feelings for her were just too dangerous to keep going on. Maybe he just needed to forget and let Tamaki handle things from here, but what exactly would Hikaru himself do then?

"I won't harp on you to go back, but are you planning on going to school at all today?" Ranka said as he reached into the purse draped over one shoulder.

Hikaru thought about it. He didn't actually plan on going at all, but it would be hard to sell the brotherly love with just one brother to sell. However, while in this state, it was hard to pretend nothing was out of the ordinary. "I guess..."

Ranka stopped what he was doing to look at Hikaru, taking notice of the boy's depression. "Is everything okay? Not sure if I'm right, but from what I've heard from Haruhi's other friends, its Hikaru?"

That would have come as a surprise at any other given time, but right now nothing could penetrate Hikaru's shield of grief. "Yeah." He didn't feel like answering the other question, despite the fact that this was Haruhi's father. Apologizing to another face in her family wasn't the same as apologizing to her face directly. How Ranka could feel happy at all was enough surprise in itself.

Somehow, though, the okama seemed to understand what was going through Hikaru's mind, because he didn't push for an answer. Instead, when he pulled out the object he was digging for in his purse -a gift wrapped box- he tossed it to Hikaru.

The older twin caught it without missing a beat and stared down at it, then looked up at the older man in confusion.

"It's a white ribbon wrapped around a picture of my wife," Ranka said without the need for a question to be asked, "You can tell her it was my idea if you like, I was going to give it to her myself anyway, but I think you should do it for me when Christmas Day rolls around. I have a feeling she'll be awake by then."

Hikaru couldn't stop the pained expression from contorting his face. Why him, the one who'd brought harm to his daughter? "But I'm the one who made her get hurt. Shouldn't you be giving this to Tamaki or... one of the others?"

"It's no one's fault, Hikaru," Ranka smiled warmly, "It was just an accident. My Haruhi knows how to handle herself."

"She was scared of me," Hikaru disagreed, "If it wasn't for Tamaki..." Then again, if the bastard hadn't shown up it wouldn't have happened. But if he really analyzed everything, it was still his fault too.

"And if the car hadn't been coming everything would be fine too," Ranka said gently, "If you try to place the blame, it would be my fault for raising her the way I have, its Kaoru's fault for encouraging you to approach her, and you could even blame Kotoko for dying so soon. If you look at it that way, everyone is at fault. I believe any and all negativity has an effect on the healing process, which means it's better to ignore what happened and hope for the best. The only thing that matters now is Haruhi's recovery, so worry about who's to blame after she wakes up." He looked down at his daughter with hope in her future, then leaned forward to kiss her forehead lovingly.

Hikaru felt the deep bond between them as he watched, but relief wouldn't come easy, especially through mere words. He still felt he was unworthy to deliver such a special gift to the girl he'd helped bring harm to, but he also couldn't argue with Ranka's reasoning. It made sense, and in such sense he should accept the gift presented to him, but inwardly, he couldn't do that. Still, he didn't want to shatter Ranka's strong sense of hope, so he held on to the gift and left the two to their family time as he went to return to school, just in time for the end of fifth period.

* * *

**You know what I've come to realize? This story reminds me a lot of the movie "Fullmetal Alchemist: Conquerer of Shambala", you know, how Edward is trapped in London on the other side of the gate from his world and the people he knows from his world are there but they act different and they have different occupations and names and stuff... My story is actually a lot like that only Haruhi is trapped within the world inside her mind instead of another dimension altogether (unless you consider the mind another dimension). I have a fanfiction for FMA, come to think of it… not for the same storyline, though.**

**Anyway, if you're still waiting for an update, I'M SORRY I TOOK SO LONG!! REALLY REALLY SORRY!! Really, you can beat me up with a steel pipe if you feel the need to, but don't wait for permission from me, I deserve for it to come as a surprise. Hell, I'll do it myself if you don't.**

**_-silence-_**

**Er, uh…. Anyway, please review if your still there. It's my motivation to keep writing, really. As long as there are reviews, this story will go on. So yeah… till next time!**


	10. The Mysterious Prophet

**I made you wait. Again. ...I AM SO SORRY!! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!!**

**On a less desperate note, I'm starting to notice that the story is rushing itself (as you'll see in this chapter), which means I need to make it slow down a bit. I should probably give a warning about Haruhi's bold behavior that will slowly start to show itself in the upcoming chapters. Considering its her mind (as I've been saying for the past 8 or 9 chapters), she's most likely going to act out her thoughts. Its just a heads up, cause it just kinda came up a few times in this chapter, and now that I think about it, once in the third, too, and maybe a few times in between. Not sure, I'd have to go back and read.  
**

**Anyway, this chapter is actually the funniest one yet I think, and the Monk Shigeo is going to turn out to be someone interesting. I'll give you three guesses as to who it is before you start reading****. Can you get it on the first try?**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**(_AW_)**

As they got on their way, Haruhi kept a close eye on the Prince. He, however, directed his gaze out the window, as though he'd lost all interest in her completely. She just couldn't figure him out. He was not at all predictable, not like her Tamaki. Who was going to tell about who first? Was he waiting for her? Or maybe he was thinking of what he was going to tell her. Either way, someone needed to say something because the silence was starting to drive her up the wall. So she decided to say something first, whether that's what he was waiting for or not.

"I was listening to what you said through the doors," she announced boldly, finally breaking the silence, "I'm just an ordinary girl. Whatever you think I am, I'm not. I still get hurt, I still bleed, and I can still die. I'm human, that's all."

Tamaki only spared her a glance before he delivered an answer. "That contradicts what's in your mind."

Haruhi narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "What do you mean?"

"…Mind reader…" Hikaru muttered rudely.

The Prince turned to face them very briefly. "Forgive me." His words were gentle, but there was a hint of a defensive tone behind them. He then closed his eyes as if deciding carefully on which words to use next. "You know about an 'other' world." That earned him a confused grimace from Hikaru and a look of curious consideration from Haruhi. He leaned forward in his seat, resting his elbow on the window sill and placing his chin in the hand of the same arm. "I was told that I would find a special girl whose mind was filled with traces of an alternate reality and that I would find her at the very slave auction from which I purchased the two of you."

Hikaru snorted as if to say that was utterly ridiculous.

"If it was only one of us you were after-" Haruhi began to say before Hikaru snorted as if to say Tamaki's reasoning was utterly ridiculous. She shot the demon a warning glare before continuing. "...Then why did you buy both of us?"

"You were panicking," he turned to look at her with a gentle expression, "You didn't want to be separated from your only friend, and I didn't want you to feel afraid or alone. Obviously I can't quell the chaos of your thoughts, so I figured keeping someone around who could was a good idea."

Haruhi was almost surprised by that response. He actually looked her directly in the eye as he said it, which forced her to believe it was true. It wasn't exactly selfish, but it wasn't unselfish either. He was definitely resourceful and thought things through. Whether she wanted to twist it around or not, she couldn't help but appreciate it. "…Thank you."

He in turn was surprised by her reply. A faint blush even crept into his cheeks and he averted his gaze. "I'm not trying to harm anyone, but I know it seems that way."

She gave him one of her natural smiles, the one that was genuine, not forced like the ones she gave to Hikaru or flashed to her customers back in the Host Club all the time. She didn't fully trust that he would be that considerate all the time, but for that one moment, she believed him. As she turned to look out of her side of the window, she whispered to herself under her breath, "Tamaki…" She was starting to miss his idiocy and the antics of the other Hosts. He was honest with her all the time at least.

Her smile and the reference to the name increased the flush in his face. "Your lover?"

His words made her scowl in regret. "…He's _not_ my lover…" She growled heatedly.

Hikaru's sullen attitude suddenly morphed into a sly teasing mode and without a second thought, he immediately pounced and latched onto her. "What about the other two, huh? You know… Hikaru and Kaoru? Oh! But you're still a virgin! Silly me! You couldn't have-!"

Before he could finish, Haruhi abruptly socked him in the face without even thinking about it first. "Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?!"

"OW!!" He screamed at her. "I was just teasing! No harm done!"

"I don't care!" She screamed back. "Don't ever mention my private life in your little pranks again! Keep your thoughts to yourself from now on, you undignified bastard!"

"Hey! I don't call you names!"

"Yes you do!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Hey now," Tamaki tried to interfere, "There's no need to-"

"-SHOVE OFF!" They both roared at him before continuing their quarrel.

Tamaki was left in shock as the two of them went on bickering with each other, but he found himself smiling at the amusing antics, so he settled for sitting back to watch rather than waste his time trying to stop them. There was nothing he could have done otherwise, and it was a harmless fight between friends that only they could resolve anyway. Eventually, they both fell asleep arguing. Somehow, the demon ended up comfortably curled in the girl's lap while she leaned against the corner of the carriage wall. That's how they remained, shifting positions every so often for almost the rest of the ride to their new destination...

* * *

When Haruhi next awoke, she found herself half hanging off the seat, the only thing keeping her in place being the sleeping Hikaru who was sprawled out on top of her with his face in her chest. It wasn't so much the fact that he was face down or on top of her that bothered her. It was more about waking up with the person she'd been fighting with so close that made her irritated.

"How the hell did this happen?" She murmured groggily, pulling an arm out from under the demon to rub the sleep from her eyes. "More importantly… how did I _let_ it happen?"

"It's called making up." Came Tamaki's voice. Still sitting in the adjacent seat, his smug violet gaze was fixed on them with an amused expression that told her he'd been watching them sleep the whole time like he was their father. And, like any loving father, he probably wanted to hug her for being 'cute'.

She looked over at him and frowned. "You could help me out, you know."

"Why would I want to disturb such an adorable scene between friends?" He smiled back at her with that princely smirk of his.

"Thanks a lot." She growled as she attempted to correct her positioning.

"...You surprise me," he said as he watched her struggle to get up without waking the demon, "Most damsels would be alarmed if they found themselves in such a position with the opposite gender."

She just tossed him a glare that said she didn't care about that; she just needed to get up and his help would be appreciated. But all he did was sit there and watch her with a chuckle here and there as she fought to correct her posture. "Oh, screw it." Finally she gave up and shoved the demon off and onto the floor. He didn't even so much as twitch. "Damn, he's heavy!" She complained, heaving a sigh of relief now that she was free.

"He's a demon," Tamaki replied casually, "And a growing one at that."

"Well next time he can find his own pillow," she groaned as she propped her feet upon the empty seat, "Honestly, why does everyone find me so comfy? It's not plausible! I mean, I'm skin and bones! How is that in any way comfortable?"

He laughed softly at her. "Perhaps it's not that you're comfortable, but that your presence provides peace of mind."

She shot him another annoyed glare, wondering when the time came that she got to laugh at him. But his words reached her and she found herself pondering as she got herself situated. "So... what's a _Deva_, anyway?"

"A foreign superior being or spirit with god-like capabilities," he explained, looking at her with a curious expression, "The details are sketchy and questionable, but it's just an urban legend. Even so, it's a myth that is shared between every culture ever encountered, though it varies from people to people of course."

"Do you think I'm that being?" She mused aloud, thinking of the possibilities. She wondered what was going on inside his mind, especially knowing that he could read hers. She wasn't exactly sure why, although she knew that he suspected she was such a being, but she was sure it wasn't true, so whether she was asking for herself or for him she wasn't certain.

"You tell me," apparently he thought she was asking for herself, "But regardless, it's my hope that the _Deva_ would attach itself to a person -or persons- who has the world's best interest in mind."

"Meaning you?"

His earlier amusement left in a hurry to be replaced by mild shock, as though he hadn't expected her to guess so accurately. "How much did you overhear?"

Haruhi just shrugged. "Enough to assume correctly, I guess." She turned to look at him curiously. "So is it true that you're empathic?"

He hesitated a little, as though he hadn't expected her to ask such a question, or maybe he didn't want to answer. Whatever the reason, he looked down at the sleeping Hikaru curled impulsively around his feet. "…Yes. I can't completely control it yet, so I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Nnnh… Juro… shut up… you don't… even… know her..." Hikaru mumbled in his slumber, a string of incoherent obscenities strewn behind almost every word.

Haruhi looked down at the demon with a smile. He reminded her so much of her Hikaru, even though Isamu was could be much more cold and cruel, but they were almost identical in appearance and almost had the same personality. It was much the same with Kaoru and Juro. Hell, everyone she'd met so far in this alternate universe in her subconscious bore an uncanny likeness to people she knew in the real world. Who else would she meet before her fate was finally decided?

"I don't care," she said as she began to relax into her new position, "As long as you're honest with me, search my mind all you want." It really didn't matter that much to her if the Prince Tamaki –no, Tanjiro– knew what was going on inside her head. It just meant that she had someone to talk to about whatever problem she encountered if she needed to, even if he was a mysterious and unpredictable character.

It seemed to surprise Tanjiro. "Are… are you certain? I mean, absolutely?"

She didn't look at him directly, but she looked out the window that was on his side of the carriage. "I'm giving you my trust for now, but if you mess up, chances are you won't get it back."

That was probably the most shocking thing she'd said to him yet, or so it seemed. Not only did he start to blush again, but he gave her a look that said he couldn't believe she'd just told him that. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea," he said, as if trying to convince her otherwise for her own sake (even though that was what he'd wanted from her in the first place), "I may be similar to this Tamaki you keep mentioning, but I'm still a complete stranger."

"So is everyone else when you first meet them." Maybe she was starting to come to terms with how this new life was going to be, but she felt safe with the people she'd met, safe because they –albeit very different– were inevitably the same as her friends, which meant that although she didn't know these people very well and probably shouldn't expect them to be completely trustworthy, she still knew who they were. Bad idea? Possibly, but she'd deal with the consequences when the time came. She looked down at Isamu on the floor again. "I trust him, too, obviously. Granted, some of his actions worry me a little, but I'm positive that he'll stay true to the promise he made to his brother."

"Juro?" The Prince said, repeating the name that Isamu had mentioned in his sleep. "The friend you're in search of?"

She nodded.

Suddenly, the carriage came to a halt, disrupting Haruhi's peaceful thoughts. She felt somewhat alarmed at first, but then curiosity set in and she wondered where they were now. Would this be the place in which they found Juro?

"Guess we've arrived," Tanjiro announced as he stood on his feet and opened the door, "Wake Isamu. I'll be outside."

Haruhi watched him go, then looked down at Isamu as the Prince gently tore his feet away from the demon, who reached out as if for his brother. So she got on the floor, wondering if she could actually wake him or not, and tapped him a few times and called his name. For whatever reason, that did the trick.

"W-wha? He looked up at her with annoyance as though he were having a good dream. "Wha'dya want?"

"It's time to go." She couldn't help but smile down at him before she got to her feet and stepped over him to follow the Prince outside. With a growl of irritation, he followed her.

They were no longer in the forest region. Now it looked more like open country with a Village before them, or at least it looked like a Village from the outside. Haruhi found Tanjiro talking with the driver of his carriage about payment and reporting back in an hour around the Main Square of the rural area. The Prince handed over a bag of cash and headed inside the Village. Actually, it wasn't so much a living area as a giant circus for enchantment, entertainment, and marketing.

There were booths and tents everywhere, mostly for selling products of all types, but there were some that advertised many different mystical things such as potions and fortune telling, and there were also very censured places such as Night Clubs and Brothels, but there were public stages and inside buildings for entertainment places such as circus acts, dancing, singing, competitions of various sorts, and story telling. There were even places for sport events for the general public. Every now and then there was a Bar or a Tavern. It looked like a wild fete that should belong to a city but was its own community. What was this place?

"Are you kidding me?" Isamu complained with a growl under his breath. "No Monk that works and lives in an Independent Festive Bazaar –especially _this_ circus act– could be a real prophet."

"That's what Saburo said, too," Tanjiro replied absent mindedly, "but Rolling Diamonds is the only Independent Festive Bazaar with real talent and a few people with true arcane ability, such as Monk Shigeo."

"And you would know that how?" Isamu remarked. "Experience, I expect?"

His answer was simple. "I can sense it."

"Oh right, the empathy thing," Isamu mocked with a deceptive shrug, "So tell me, what's it like to see into other people's private thoughts without them knowing?"

Haruhi shot the demon a glare and slapped his shoulder warningly. She'd actually hit him pretty hard, harder than she met to.

"What?" Was his reaction, like he had done nothing wrong or even remotely rude.

"Could you at least _pretend_ to be nice?" Maybe it wasn't harder than she meant to.

He glared down at her like she was crazy for saying that. "Why are you defending the Bastard Prince after he treated you like-?"

"That doesn't matter anymore," she replied sharply, "He's our escort now, so get used to it."

"Oh, so now he's our guide?" He asked in a tone dripping with venomous sarcasm. "And here I thought he was our _friend_."

"Technically he's our traveling companion." She corrected him in a quiet irritated tone.

"Oh yay!" He was still being sarcastic, but this time it was a dagger in the back to Tanjiro. "I feel like I can _trust_ him now!"

This time she hit him in the chest with a fist, making him grunt heavily. "Leave that to me, but you should at least keep your dirty mouth shut. Honestly you're so egotistical!"

He immediately went into defense mode. "Hey! I'm not-!"

"I said _shut up_!" She exploded and walked ahead of him. She was starting to grow tired of his attitude problem. Were demons always this obnoxious? Behind her, she heard Isamu growl an agitated grunt deep in his gut, but he actually remained quiet. Either he was smart enough to listen or too agitated to argue further.

Tanjiro took no notice of their quarrel. He just continued to maneuver instinctively through the huge crowds of people in a direction that only he seemed to know. His longer legs were able to take much longer strides than her own, and he didn't have to hurry as fast as she did. Haruhi found it somewhat difficult to keep up with the considerable rate of ground he was able to cover.

Before long she felt a strong pair of arms hoist her from the ground and onto the left shoulder of a tall figure who used one hand to be certain her position was secure. The fiery orange hair and the pointed ears gave Isamu away, but because he was able to keep up with the faster Tanjiro and Haruhi was able to see over the crowd, she didn't object (as much as she would have liked to). She felt the tremor of his growl of irritation vibrate through his body, warning her that he was only doing this because he felt she was incapable of handling herself and if she did or said anything wrong her ride was forfeit. She silently snorted her annoyance at his threat, but otherwise did nothing to protest. She would rather be able to see what was going on through the plethora of tall people than try to keep up with her considerably faster companion without knowing what she was heading into.

There was a lot to see, but they rushed by so fast that she barely had time to see any of it and remember what it looked like afterward. She did, however, remember seeing a face that looked remarkably like Banibara-Sama and a few others that reminded her of various people she knew of, had seen, or met. There was probably a good assortment of faces that she might've recognized if she'd been allotted enough time to look closer. Alas, the show came to a close when they finally came upon a rather peculiar dome-shaped tent of various shades of purples, silvers, pinks, and golds. The entry way had a unique bamboo door curtain that made up the intricate image of a Chinese dragon flying through the cosmos. Standing by that same entry way was an alert and well built guard that reminded her a lot of the British-looking muscle man she'd seen walking down the street the other day in the real world.

At that point, Isamu put her down and walked ahead of her, leaving her behind as she had him. It was just as well. As of that moment, she would rather have dealt with as little of the demon as possible. She managed to notice that Tanjiro still made no acknowledgment of the silent treatment they were giving each other as he proceeded inside with the consent of the sentry. Isamu had apparently decided to remain outside, which Haruhi was just fine with. She made no eye contact as she walked through the colorful wall of beads.

The Prince, having crossed more ground much faster than she could, was already in the furthest room talking with someone who was silhouetted by a purple robe, obscuring both gender and appearance from view. From what she could see, the figure seemed to be a mix between a gypsy, a druid, and a shaman of a variation of witchcraft and the Indian religion. There were also signs of the Shaolin monk martial arts. Whoever was sitting in the middle of all of it was also surrounded by objects of meditation, such as incense and lit candles. The room itself was rather dimly lit and was littered with other objects of such mysticism like tarot cards, a crystal ball, the skins and furs of animals, bones and skulls, and various other things.

Haruhi felt a small shiver creep up her spine as she listened to Tanjiro address the figure as Shigeo, the Monk he kept talking about. As out of place as she felt, there was something unnervingly familiar about it all.

"Returned have you?" Shigeo chuckled at the Prince. Even that voice was familiar. "What is it you need now?"

Tanjiro, as if forgetting his higher rank, actually took it upon himself to kneel respectfully before the Monk almost as though to pay his dues. "Do you remember what you told me about the _Deva_?" He said in a submissive tone unbecoming of a king-in-waiting, like he held the monk in higher respect than himself. "It has finally come. It comes to put an end to the war. It lays in wait for the one or ones who will be its guide and protect it. I will find it at Tonnerre's slave auction."

"Yes," the Monk replied, the dark hood bowing in a nod, "I also said that if you were to go, only doom will greet you and any who involve themselves. But I expect that is not enough to sway your proud heart. In fact, I feel it is only just to assume that you went anyway."

That shiver that was still creeping up Haruhi's spine sped up. She didn't in the least like the warning of doom that the monk gave. However, she knew that it was probably foreboding something that she herself needed to heed.

"Indeed," Tanjiro sighed, as though in shame of his own reckless actions, "Well... I've found her."

The monk, even though his face was concealed, appeared to be surprised by the Prince's words. "_Her_?"

"Yes, and I brought her with me." Tanjiro answered softly.

"It... _she_... is here?" The monk asked incredulously.

That was all the confirmation Haruhi needed. So he really did believe that she was this glorious _Deva_ creature, but why her? When Tanjiro turned to look at her and beckoned for her to come to him, she froze. She had no desire to be worshiped like the all-powerful God that was known world-wide in every modern religion of the real world. She liked the way her life was going just the way it was. Nothing needed to change. Sure she was popular, but she wasn't proud or glad of it. If anything it was troublesome. Being nobody wasn't as bad as it's made out to be. However, she didn't want to lose the friends she had made no matter what gender they thought she was.

"Haruhi." Tanjiro outstretched an arm toward her, offering her his hand for security. "It's okay."

It was the strangest thing. She heard his voice, but she noticed that though he was speaking to her, his lips didn't move at all. Had she imagined it? She had heard him as clearly as she could see him and it was just as real, but suddenly it was as though he had not spoken or offered his hand to her at all.

"Haruhi?" That time his lips did move, and again he reached out to her. "It's okay. Come here."

As Tanjiro moved to offer his hand to her, the Monk pulled the hood of his robe away to reveal a face more familiar to her than any other she could remember. It was her father.

* * *

**...Creepy... I'm not even sure what I just typed. She might've predicted Tanjiro would do that, or maybe she made him do it, I don't know... It was cool though! I want more! -_starts typing more for the next chapter_-  
**

**So know Haruhi's father has entered the picture. I wonder if he'll play a big role? And who else is going to come into the picture later? What I wanna know is where the hell is Juro!? I don't even know myself! The suspense is killing me!**

**Lol, don't go away. Stay tuned, cause I have a feeling that things are about to get crazy!** **And please don't forget to review!**


	11. But Death Awaits Her

**Say, after the last chapter, I'm getting the impression that Haruhi is morphing into her own person now. I didn't mean for that to happen but... anything can happen inside your mind, I guess. I know it would in mine.**

**You know I'm beginning to see an element of "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" in here. Maybe I should... nah, that'd make the title longer than it needs to be. It's fine the way it is in any case. It did give me the idea of adding Haruhi Suzumiya characters through. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to add some crossover characters... its not too late for that... hmmm... that's tempting, even if it means I have to change the story's category placement. Wait a minute! No I don't! Ouran Host Club takes place in modern day, right? I could just say they're from the mangas or anime that our Host Club Haruhi has read/watched. Hey! I like that! I just might give that a try! Well... maybe I should think it over some more first... What do you guys think?**

**Anyway, so deciding how Haruhi would act to whatever just happened in the last chapter has been kind of difficult considering her character can be hard to stay in tune with sometimes. It's also been a long while since I've seen or read any Ouran Host Club, but I think I've got it. I haven't figured out what happened yet, either, but I'm leaning towards the idea that she made him do it. I think I may have come up with something better, but unless its revealed somewhere in this chapter, any ideas presented by those who are still reading this is more than welcome.**

**BTW, this chapter has an interesting idea that I came up with. I know we just did a Real World scene a chapter ago, but we haven't seen Haruhi's condition go out of whack yet, so I hope you like what happens next!**

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_It was the moment that he walked in that her heart began to race. _

_Barely taking notice, Ranka was already there eating his lunch by her bedside as he always did on his break, gulping down the glass of orange juice one pace at a time, biting first into the deli sandwich of tuna, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and mayo, and lastly the chocolate cheese cake,_ _all of which were normally her favorite lunch._ _He looked up when the young man approached the bed and greeted him with a "Hello again. Is this going to become a ritual?"_

_The young man replied with a shrug and a melancholy smile that faded as he looked down at her from his side of the bed._

_Ranka smiled and held out his cheese cake. "I'm sure you haven't eaten since this morning, so take this, and I won't take no for an answer."_

"Haruhi?"

Haruhi shook her head of the strange thoughts that entered her mind. So many emotions were overwhelming her heart that it was only logical for her to start imagining things. She could only guess that the expression she was currently wearing made both of the men before her maybe only a little more than worried. She hadn't realized how much she missed her father until she saw his face which had been stolen by this Monk. After the initial shock and the anxiety that overtook her mind during the deja vu, she could only stand there and stare at the Monk, frozen in place as tremors swept through her body. It wasn't until she heard Tanjiro's voice again that she realized she'd been holding her breath. Was she really hearing him though? Or was this just another trick of the mind?

Monk Shigeo stared back at her with incredulous admiration. "The **Lady** _Deva_..." He murmured with excitement to himself, testing out the unfamiliar title as though it's revealing moment had been long awaited. "...Well, how unexpected."

If Haruhi hadn't been paralyzed by shock, she would have asked the Monk what he meant by that. However, by the way he was smiling at her, she could guess that he was pleased by whatever had surprised him about her. Was that a good thing?

"I thought so, too," Tanjiro replied, "Everyone was under the assumption of **Lord** _Deva_, and if we reveal her now when she is so unready, I fear the reaction." She could feel his concerned gaze on her, and without a doubt she knew that he could feel the turmoil inside her, yet he did nothing to assure her. Perhaps he was waiting to see what she would do.

_Although his stomach was churning too rapidly for him to eat anything, the young man took the offered cake anyway, knowing that Ranka would pester him until he accepted. Before he could even force the first bite down his reluctant throat, an loud high-pitched beeping suddenly went off, making both of them jolt in alarm._

_Ranka nearly spilled the rest of the orange juice on his dress. He looked up at the equipment and realized there was something wrong with his daughter's heart. "Haruhi? Haruhi!"_

"And you are right to be afraid," Shigeo chirped like a young woman, reminding Haruhi rather vaguely of Renge, "It would be absurd to reveal her so soon, especially to the wrong person!"

"Why?" Although he might already know the answer, the Prince chose to ask anyway as he turned to look at Shigeo, trusting more in the Monk's judgment than his own. "What dangers could possibly present a threat to a god?"

Without giving a verbal reply, the Monk answered him with an interesting look, one that said the answer was already known and that there was more to the _Deva_ than he realized. Tanjiro stared back in awkward silence. Haruhi tried to guess what he was thinking through the toiling emotions that fogged her mind.

"Now you know why I warned you not to get involved." The intrigued Monk's gaze fell back on Haruhi and he gestured for her to join them.

Haruhi, however, didn't feel so cooperative at the moment. As much as she wanted to listen and believe that this Monk was her father just because they had exactly the same appearance, she felt like she couldn't trust herself to know what was what anymore. When Tanjiro had asked her to come join them, he had done it twice in almost exactly the same way, each time like it was the first. Now she was waiting for the moment of deja vu to occur again, which would only further confuse her already reeling mentality. What was going on?

_"Nurse!" Ranka cried, and it was more than once that he had to shout for assistance before they finally came dashing like mad dogs down the hallway. _

_By that time, as the young man studied her condition, she started to seize. "Haruhi?" He breathed as her body's involuntary tremors gradually grew into violent spastic shaking. He backed away in horror as the nurses and doctors gathered around her to try to stabilize her. "Ranka!" He turned to the older man as if the okama would know what to do._

_But Ranka was being herded out the door, and soon, amid shouting and orderly chaos, he was too._

"Haruhi..." The Prince whispered rather audibly as he gazed at her with a bewildered expression, as though he was utterly confused about what she was feeling, for her emotions were almost completely fused with her thoughts.

"Lord Prince," Shigeo glanced at Tanjiro as though he knew the Prince's expression was linked to the bedlam of her mind, "What is it? What is she-?"

Before he could finish, an involuntary impulse to run gripped Haruhi like the strings of a puppet, and before even she could figure out what was happening, she had dashed out of the tent with the speed and even the agility of a cat trying to escape a bigger predator.

"Wh-?! Wait! Haruhi!" The scream of Tanjiro was all she had time to hear before she was already a good amount of yards away.

The scene of her unconscious self thrashing about on the bed while nurses helped doctors to save her was burnt inside of her head, urging her onward like a rider's spurs to its steed's ribcage, and it continued on for minutes longer, passed the call for immediate surgery despite the dangerous odds. She didn't want to be cut open. If they did so, she could just as easily die as a swallow would drop from the sky if its wing was hit by a direct shot from a bee bee gun, and yet, if they did nothing, she would die anyway. She didn't want to die. She couldn't afford to. Maybe that was why she had to run. "Angel... mother... help me! I don't want to die!"

_They were rushing down the halls, and while doctors barked orders and nurses pushed her bed toward the emergency room, Ranka and the young man raced along side with her._

_Ranka was clutching her hand tightly as fear for losing his daughter gripped his heart, and he was speaking words to her that were swallowed by the chaos, but the magnitude of his love was all but lost._

_On the other side of the bed, the young man held on to the bed rail in an effort to help get her where she needed to be, looking down at her with eyes that glittered from the terror in his heart._ _He had said nothing since he had been pushed out of the room, but now there seemed to be an endless stream of things he wanted badly to tell her._ _He wished even more than he could be certain that she would hear him, but more than either of those things,_ _he hoped and prayed to whatever gods may be listening that she would survive this ordeal._

_With all this on his mind, he impulsively whispered close to her ear, and she heard his words clearer and louder than she had her own father's: "Please, don't let go... I love you."_

Before her thoughts could even grip what had happened, she found herself wrapped in a pair of strong arms against which no matter how she struggled, she simply could not break free. She could hear whoever it was speaking to her, trying to convince her that all was well, but despite how close that voice was to her ear, she could barely hear it. "I don't want to die... I don't... want..." She whimpered as the voice grew ever fainter, and with it her energy, until she no longer had the strength to fight. Then her sight began to fade in a blinding flash of white, and she found herself once again within the unlimited and colorless dimension of limbo.

She still couldn't move, but her heart was beating even faster. She could still hear the voices of the operating room in her ears, but they were faint. It was only then that she realized how wet and sticky her cheeks were from the river of tears that had fallen without her knowledge. So it was going to end like this? Without her consent? But hadn't she been promised more time than she needed to complete the task given to her before she made a choice? Perhaps it was fate that it should happen this way. Maybe she should be angry or sad, but maybe she was already passed that. All she felt now was the acceptance that it was going to happen, as though that was what she had felt all along.

She didn't even jump at the sound of wing beats. Maybe it was the sound of death coming to take her. She could already feel it gripping her in its cold embrace. Therefore, it came as a surprise to hear a familiar voice.

"Haruhi." The voice of her mother gave her strength enough to turn her head, and her field of vision was engulfed in the bright golden glow of an angel with a silvery pair of velvety wings that in size dwarfed a small car and in length could have surpassed that of an orca by a foot or two. The angel had Kotoko's eyes, face, and her light brown hair, which cascaded down her back at a wavy length that reached her thighs, her head crowned with a wreath of black roses. She was garbed in a beautiful light blue dress of a boat neck cut with violet hemming embroidered with emeralds, long off-the-shoulder sleeves -the right falling the length of her body while the other draped from the shoulder down to the hips and reattached at the wrist- the front of the dress hanging six inches above her knees in the front and trailing five feet behind her. A pair of black leather boots with heels two inches thick and four inches tall embellished her feet and reached as high as her shins. In one hand, she held a copper staff seven feet in length that at the head ended in a long curved blade made of diamond with an inner blade of obsidian which at the end was decorated by a fire opal. "My sweetest Haruhi."

"You're... a Shinigami?" Haruhi's brown gaze lingered on the scythe of death in the angel's hands.

"Yes," the angel answered in a warm voice as she delicately wiped Haruhi's tears away, "I am an Angel of Death and loyal servant of the Void of Passing, reaper of those whose time is up, a guide for the souls who have lost their way, a sheppard of those who have managed to elude their time of passing, and the one who gives second chances to those whose purpose has not yet been served. You, Haruhi, are dying, right now on an operating table among doctors that are doing their best to save you, but on their own, it will not be enough."

"Then you're here to reap me." Haruhi averted her gaze skyward -or what she could determine was skyward- as she waiting patiently for the blade of her passing to collect its prize. "I'm ready."

"Dearest one," the angel smiled at her as though she had not come for a reaping, "You have been ready and not ready again and again, and yet no sooner has your task been just 20% completed than you change your mind. You called for me in a time of peril, did you not?"

"I... think so..." Haruhi could vaguely remember the thoughts of her mind while she had been panicking. She could barely even remember what was happening before she entered limbo for the second time. "But that was before-"

The angel cut her off with a small shake of her head, making a few locks of her lovely hair spill over her shoulders with the likeness of molten copper. "Then I am not here to take you away, child. I have come to give you a miracle that will allow you to complete the healing journey that you have chosen for yourself."

Haruhi looked at the angel again, this time staring with shock into those sparkling brown eyes. "A... miracle?"

The angel gave a single curt nod in reply. "Do you accept?"

Haruhi found that question increasingly difficult to answer. An assortment of conflicting emotions arose in her heart where there had previously been only acceptance of whatever fate she had thought awaited her. With this new choice brought memories that still haunted her, memories of the moment before she had idiotically stepped in front of that cursed car, the very vague memories of what it had been like to lose her mother, very vivid memories of the recent days she'd been having at the Host Club, the memories of her travels in this strange world within her mind, and the memories of her hallucinations of herself being rushed into the E.R.

She could still hear the words of the young man ringing in her head: 'Please, don't let go... I love you.' The voice had of course sounded very familiar, but she just could not seem to identify the face that went with it. Despite the fact that those very words had been the once that got her into this mess in the first place, they seemed to be the ones pulling her back out. She could distantly remember the potent emotions attached to them, such as suffocating guilt, heavily weighted remorse and regret, deep sinking depression, but above all the stomach churning terror and both the glorious passion and the terrible torment of love and fondness. It frightened her, but it also made her curious. It flattered her and lifted her spirit. It almost made her blush just to think about it. She never thought such love could exist in the world, or that she would ever feel it in her life time, and from that stemmed the desire to continue on, if for no other reason than the one who had uttered those simple but powerful words. Who was the young man who had spoken them in such desperation to her and for her only? Why did he care so much and in such a way for her?

"Tell me," she murmured without looking at the angel, the whole of Limbo quiet enough to hear even the slightest of noises, "who was the boy who spoke to me before this happened?"

"You know him so well," the Angel smiled at her, "Do you really wish to know the answer soon? Trust yourself, Haruhi. I think you will remember if you give yourself the chance."

The angel's words had a truth to them that Haruhi couldn't deny. So with her mind made up -having arrived at the judgment that life was worth fighting for- she turned to the angel and nodded her consent.

With that, the angel stood on her feet and slowly raised her scythe over her head, careful to aim correctly. At first Haruhi felt doubt of the Angel's intent creep into her mind, but she was unable to move to do anything about it, and before she could think of anything she could do to stop the Angel, the blade dropped with lightning speed. The effect was instantaneous. Pierced through the heart, she felt that something was different.

"Haruhi, please!"

"Wake up, Haruhi, come on!"

"You not dying, your just fine! So wake up already!"

She felt the warm breath of life on her face, a pair of arms holding her, her body lying across the lap of whoever had spoken her name. As soon as her head stopped spinning from the dizziness of slumber, her vision finally came to and she opened her eyes, she found herself staring into the amber eyes of Isamu that were gleaming with fret. As her other senses began to return to her, she realized that it was the demon who was cradling her, snarling over protectively at whoever came too close for his comfort, as though the promise to his brother was possessing him. However, as soon as he realized she was awake again, a slight blush crept into his face as he immediately but gently set her on the ground and away from him almost as if embarrassed.

"I didn't do it because I like you." He muttered as he turned his back on her with folded arms. Even though it was already fading away, there was still a sign of blood lingering in his cheeks.

She would have smiled at him -she felt that she should be grateful to him for his reluctant assistance and his relentless protection- but she was still shaken from her ordeal. She had just been closer to death than she had ever been in her life, and after having felt her own body's life force start to fade away, she was left without the ability to smile for the time being. She felt herself trembling from the terrible awe-inspiring experience. The change from acceptance to determination was a trying one. Her eyes were still wet, despite the fact that the Angel had wiped them in Limbo, so she wiped them away herself. She wanted -needed- someone to cling to, someone she felt she could trust, but that someone was refusing her.

"Haruhi!" Tanjiro was immediately beside her, as though on cue with her desires, his tone clearly full of both relief and anxiety. "Are you well? I heard that you were crying out for an angel and your mother, and I was there to hear you screaming that you didn't want to die, but even with the power of empathy I could not discern your thoughts from your emotions. For a time I thought I felt you fading away, yet now you are as fine as before dashing off and scaring us half to death. Please tell me, what has happened?"

Only just realizing that she was outside for the whole world to witness, she finally began to feel the prying eyes of the people in the Independent Bazaar on her, watching her with bated breath. She felt sick as she looked up and the Prince, shock and fear as present in his face as the sticky tear streaks on her face had been, but she couldn't bring herself to answer him, at least not in front of a crowd of people she didn't know. Instead, she found herself leaning into him, seeking comfort from his knowledge of the emotions flooding her soul. She knew he could feel her distress, regardless of what signs he gave to confirm it.

She felt him tense with first contact of her body against his. Being a Prince, he probably didn't normally become engaged in such close contact with anyone -especially women (unless in the most private of moments of course)- in public unless for a special reason. However strange he found contact to be with her, it didn't take him long to relax, and even less time transpired after that until he embraced her, taking utmost care in the placing of his arms. "Come," he whispered softly to her, "Let us seek shelter from the eyes of the world. Can you stand?"

Nodding into his chest, she let him take her along as he stood on his feet and led her back to the Monk's tent. She wobbled a bit, but she did not fall to her knees as she would have without his support.

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**WOW!!! That last chapter left me with my mouth open! I had no idea that any of that was even gonna happen so I tried my damned hardest not to rush anything. Unfortunately I may not have spared everything from the rush of doom, but I think its still good. PLEASE let me know how you feel too! I can't wait!  
**


	12. To Be More Than You Are

**Damn. I dunno if I can out do that last chapter. This one will probably be boring compared to that one. I am planning to have another character or two show up in this chapter but... I dunno, the story will decide that for itself, I guess.**

**As far as the pairings go, by the way, just before you go jumping to conclusions, is currently undecided. To be completely honest, I was planning to make it Haruhi and Hikaru, and I know it seems to be currently –and very obviously– heading in that direction, but suddenly I'm not so sure that will end up being the case. Who knows what will happen next? I can confidently assure you that I don't. As I've said in almost _every_ chapter so far, the story writes itself, and that's the key to a good story. However, it could just as easily have been Arai or Kasanoda who proclaimed their love to Haruhi in the hospital. Again, who knows? Oh yeah, and sorry about the chocolate cheese cake thing. I totally forgot that Haruhi doesn't like sweets. Eventually I'll edit that, but for now let's just say its sugar free or something.**

**Okay so I changed the story title just a little. I thought it was more fitting to add more fairytale subjects and stuff, and what do you know? It fits the story perfectly (excusing the fact that its so long, of course)! And hey, there's also a bit of Avatar: the Last Airbender element to this story too I've begun to notice… its very interesting how a lot of the shows I watch end up mixed into one story. I wonder what other elements will reveal themselves to me?**

**Well, here goes the freefall.**

**(P.S.: Oh! Oh! FYI, I've been editing the previous chapters and adding to certain scenes to make them more lengthy and less superficial, and so you can read the characters better, so if you care to, go back and reread stuff. I've only gotten up to chapter 5 or 6 so far, but be on the look out.)**

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**Chapter 11**

As they reentered the tent, Shigeo's face greeted them and relief flooded his features. "Thank the gods! Is the Lady well? What was it that ailed her so?" Immediately standing, he helped Tanjiro to lower Haruhi onto a pile of cushions that would support her if she were to lie back like a beanbag chair. Though she barely took notice, it was rather comfortable to be honest.

"We have not been told yet," the Prince replied as he sat close to Haruhi in order to be near if she needed anything, "but I think we should let the Lady rest before we ask for the details."

As the Monk kneeled before Haruhi with a frantic look on his face, he bowed his head and spoke with such submissive respect that it unsettled her even more than she already was. "Is there anything I can get you, my goddess? Anything at all?"

Immediately picking up on Haruhi's discomfort and reluctance to use her voice, Tanjiro glanced at her with a look that expressed a silent offer to speak for her if she allowed him to read her freely. To her own surprise, she was relieved for the offer and gave her consent in the form of appreciation, which she was sure he received when he turned to the Monk. "Perhaps something to eat and drink would be sufficient, and I don't think she approves of such royal treatment, my good Monk."

Shigeo sputtered, as if being told he was unable to treat her with the respect he thought she deserved confused him to the point that he didn't know how to react or what to do. But he caught on quickly. "Y-yes, of course!" And he dashed off.

Even though she did not once avert her gaze from the floor, Haruhi felt Tanjiro watching her as she hugged her knees and heaved a quivering sigh, which she did her best to steady as it came out. She was also aware of Isamu's presence nearby in the tent, and he too was watching her. Both men seemed to be surrounded by an air of concern for her. She had no doubt of how badly she must've scared everyone, but despite her trust in her new companions, she still wished it were the actual Tamaki and Hikaru by her side.

She was missing them terribly now, not to mention Kaoru, whose counterpart, Juro, she was very worried about. Even the real Kyouya's presence would have provided a world of comfort, and she had to wonder about Hunny and Mori and what their counterparts would be like if or when she met them. Most of all, she sorely missed her father, and even more so her deceased mother (the one who had raised her, not the Shinigami). Even though she felt she could not talk to them about anything that was happening in this alternative universe, it would still have been a relief to have them with her. But all she had was their counterparts.

More then ever, she began to wish that she could recognize who the voice who had uttered desperate words of love to her unconscious self belonged to. At that, her thoughts drifted to the car accident that had started this whole thing. She kept thinking of Hikaru, who had simply wanted to spend some alone time with her, and how he had been so honest about asking her permission for that time. Since that moment, none of the hosts ever just asked her for her time, not with her happiness in mind anyway. And of course Tamaki had to ruin it. It wasn't that he was jealous or trying to steal her away. She very much doubted that. No, he was just being the same old idiot that he always was every day. However, it had sparked a long harbored jealousy in Hikaru, who in turn reacted badly. Was it his fault that she had been hurt? She hated placing the blame on either of their heads, but if she ever got back to the real world, she would make them both apologize, not just to her, but to each other and everyone else who was worrying about her.

The tent was silent as she brooded, with the exception of the people talking outside and the commotion of Shigeo trying to prepare for her a meal and drink. It wasn't until her emotions were starting to numb out that Tanjiro felt her forehead as if suspecting her of a fever, then put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, bringing her back out of the depression of her thoughts.

"It will be alright," the Prince told her, giving her the warm smile Tamaki would usually flash her if she were in need of comfort, which –confusingly– both upset her more and calmed her down, "I have no idea of what's going on, but I feel safe in saying that it will be alright. It turned out okay this time, did it not?"

She turned her head to look at him, and then at Isamu, realizing that both of them really had no clue about what kind danger she had just been in, and she knew they deserved to know after being so kind to her. She sighed again before she decided to speak for the first time since she had come back from death's arms. Unfortunately, that met she would have to talk, in spite of how much she really didn't want to. "I... I'm not entirely sure I grasp it myself." Surprisingly, for whatever reason, using her voice again actually calmed her, as if it were a confirmation that she was really still alive and in existence.

"Grasp what?" Tanjiro asked gently, his tone and expression giving away that he was relieved to hear her voice again. He could probably estimate what he thought had happened from what her emotions were telling him, but there was no way he could guess the entire truth that way.

But as she opened her mouth to reply, she realized that he also had no clue that he was just a figment of her imagination, a copy of what was outside of her mind, and she hesitated. She wasn't so sure how he would take such knowledge, even if he did believe she was a goddess or _Deva_ or whatever. She glanced away again as she tried to sum up the courage to start explaining.

"Please, tell me," he urged her, using soothing tones in the hopes of helping to subdue the discord within her enough that she would be able to talk more, "I'm here to listen. I want to hear what you have to say, and I promise you that nothing you can say would deter me." With each word it became increasingly obvious to her that he was utterly oblivious to the truth of her turmoil. All he really knew was that she felt exceedingly upset, and he was simply trying to find a means with which to help.

Haruhi grunted quietly in dismay. She really didn't want to chase her only companions of this world away, and she definitely did not want to be alone in this universe. She would have to explain in the simplest way possible, so she chose her next words as carefully as she dared. "Have you... ever thought of other dimensions such as alternate realities or parallel worlds, and… stuff like that?"

He looked at her with a curious expression, hungry for whatever information she was willing to spill. She had to give him credit for speaking the truth of wanting to listen to her at least. "I have heard of such things. They have never been discovered, but I would not be too surprised if they existed. …Though I would have to admit that I'd be impressed."

"Well..." She believed his claim that he would not be swayed to leave her side no matter what she told him, but she seriously doubted he'd believe some of it. For that, she could not blame him, or anyone else for that matter. How would you feel if someone told you that you weren't real? "You _could_ say that I'm the proof."

His face actually lit up, as though he was happy to hear those words. "So there really is such a thing?" He breathed with excitement. "What is it like?"

She was almost surprised by that reaction, but it did give her hope. So she did her best to explain the real world and her life in as simple a way as possible. It actually turned out more like a mix between Greek mythology, Christianity, and Buddhism, which had not been her intention. She tried to keep the element of ordinary life in it as much as possible, but explaining such things to a figment of your own imagination might prove a bit daunting to anyone. She eventually got to the point where she explained about how she had lost her mother, how she had accidentally gotten herself mixed up in the Host Club, and then about how she ended up in this world and how she had a Shinigami guide to help her. She then went to the trouble of describing the most recent disaster that had almost befallen her. The only important detail she left out was the fact that this entire world was only inside her imagination at work.

Tanjiro didn't miss a beat. He clung to her every word, asked questions and made comments here and there, sometimes interrupting her with long-winded speeches or stories of his own in his excitement. Isamu, on the other hand, kept to himself. Whether the demon was listening or not as he stared into a corner of the room away from her and the Prince, she couldn't tell. As for Shigeo, all they heard of him was a few mess ups and curses from somewhere at the back of the tent.

She could see that she couldn't completely hide everything from the empathic Prince, but thankfully he did not push her. Either he had forgotten amid the fervor, or he had decided there were some things that he was not capable of understanding and as such were better left unsaid. She very much appreciated the respect for her privacy that she was usually deprived of in the real world.

"Hey," it was then that Shigeo finally returned from wherever it was he had vanished to, "I just had a revelation." In his hands, he came bearing a round wooden tray of plastic teacups and glass bowls of ramen, which he placed on a rug in the middle of the room where everyone was seated.

Tanjiro was in the middle of bombarding Haruhi with questions about how similar he and everyone else he knew were similar to the people in her world –Isamu lying comfortably across from them with a stoic expression as he listened, inputting his own occasional questions and comments whenever he felt it appropriate– when the fun and games came to a grinding halt. All three of them turned to the Monk with varying degrees of curiosity in their expressions.

"What about?" Tanjiro asked, adopting a tone of seriousness that almost didn't seem to fit his normally aloof and princely features. It almost seemed as if he were expecting bad news to come from Shigeo's mouth.

Haruhi had almost forgotten about her recent plight, but seeing the face of her father in someone she didn't even know brought everything rushing back. Almost immediately she became depressed again, though not quite as intensely to her relief. Although she was not particularly famished for food or drink, she took one of the cups of green tea and took a sip of the sweet beverage anyway as the conversation continued.

"I've been doing some serious thinking," he announced as he took his appointed seat of prophet and fortune teller, "And after hearing the Lady _Deva's_ story, I have come to the conclusion that the prophesy made by the Oracle of Kotoko about a Lord _Deva_ may not have been entirely false after all."

Haruhi glanced at the Monk briefly as she took another sip of her ice tea, making note of his claim to have heard the entire conversation between herself, Tanjiro, and Isamu. She didn't entirely believe him, but somehow, she couldn't find room to doubt him either.

"What the hell are you talking about, you stupid Monk?" Isamu scoffed rudely, apparently unafraid and unashamed to make his disbelief in Shigeo's abilities known. "Everyone knows that Prophesy like the back of their hand. At no point whatsoever does it even hint at the idea that there could be two _Devas_, and not to burst your bubble or anything with whatever bizarre fantasies you may have as an okama, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that our girl here is definitely _not_ male, nor does she have any 'extra parts'."

She couldn't help it. It was an involuntary reaction. As soon as the demon's explanation about just how confident he was about his knowledge of her gender reached her ears, the sip of ice tea she had just taken instantly gushed back out of her mouth in a long auburn spray of liquid like that of a geyser, and without meaning to aim it that way, it ended up landing right in the Monk's face, but she skipped the apology and went straight to screaming at Isamu as a small blush of humiliation crept into her cheeks. "And just HOW in the HELL would YOU know _THAT_?!"

"Why does it matter so much to you?!" Isamu screamed back without missing a beat. "I'm a demon, not a human, there's a difference! It's the same as looking at a tree or an animal; it holds no pleasure for me! At least my hormones are in check, unlike a human!"

She must have punched him pretty hard, because not only did he howl in pain and cringe away from her, but there was a bump forming on top of another large bump in the spot she had struck. Maybe she should apologize or feel badly, but she couldn't help how satisfying it felt to make him cower before her after what he had just announced to the world. "That's no excuse! My privacy should be mine, and mine only, regardless of how anyone else feels about it! All I've ever asked is that you respect that! Is that so hard?! Now I'm pretty sure that the kitsune didn't let you peek, so when and how did you see me?!"

It wasn't hard to see that Isamu wanted badly to answer if only to say his peace get her the hell off his back, but for whatever reason, he grudgingly held his tongue and turned away with a look of anguish burning in his eyes. She almost believed that what he was saying was true, but coming from someone who looked and sounded identical to Hikaru (and wasn't Kaoru), it just didn't register with her as real, and the way he looked and acted now reminded her with a sharp pang of the real older twin. That aside, getting caught in her underwear was one thing. It was quite another to be caught totally naked, and that's not counting being mocked for it, but it wasn't so much that she was worried about what he had seen. It was the nature of how he had come to see her in such light.

She noted how neither the Monk nor Tanjiro made a move to put an end to the sudden quarreling. She could guess with confidence that the Monk did nothing because he didn't want to incur the wrath of the _Deva_ upon himself. The Prince, however, she could never figure out how to read. Though he looked concerned, he simply sat there watching her as though trying to calculate what she would do next, but his reason why was as mysterious as he was. Maybe, with his empathic power, he knew how she felt and thought the demon deserved retribution, despite that he would have delivered it differently. Maybe, to a degree, he felt the same way as the Monk. A multitude of things could have been the reason, but at the moment, she couldn't care less. She wanted to hear what Isamu had to say for himself. "_Tell _me!"

"The processing of slaves," Tanjiro announced suddenly, making Haruhi look at him and Isamu flinch at his words, "While you were within the Tonnerre Trading Facilities of Fuannai. Was it then?"

It was then that she finally understood what was going on in the Crowned Prince's head. It wasn't herself that he had been empathizing with. It was Isamu. How long had he known? "What processing?" She asked Tanjiro directly, her voice suddenly taking on a calm tone.

"If you don't know, then be glad," the Prince answered grimly, "The details can get grisly and I don't think you're ready to know yet, so I'll skip straight to the point. Almost any race of male or female that goes through it consciously will almost certainly never be the same again. Depending on what kind of person does the processing and what degree or type of processing is done, it can be cruel and painful since they consider you no more than produce, and it's not always done in isolation. I'm going to go ahead and guess that yours was done in the open, and that because Isamu decided to put on a female form, he was forced to undergo the female processing, which can usually be more brutal than what males go through."

She had no idea what it was like to have empathy, but that he could deduce that much just by experiencing and reading emotions told her that he knew what he was talking about. With that, her rage melted away and she turned back to Isamu, unsure now of what to feel. "Is that true?"

The demon hesitated, and she saw a twinge of pain flash across his eyes, the kind of pain that came when he was thinking of his brother. "…I didn't tell you because Juro wouldn't have. He would have never said anything just so you could keep your sense of innocence, but I think he's become way too soft after losing Rein, and since you know now, I might as well tell you regardless of what he would want." He somehow found the courage to look her in the eye. "Remember how you were preaching about how precious your virginity was? Well, you might as well have said goodbye to it when you were taken by the Tonnerre Trading Cavalry. Among all others, their processing exploits everything. No virgin is left untouched."

A surge of multiple emotions of varying degrees coursed through her until she was feeling everything and nothing at the same time. Her heart began to race again –almost jumping out of her chest– and she could feel her blood pumping so fast it almost made her dizzy. The sound of it pounding in her ears like the deafening ring of a large bell made her temples throb with pain. There was a deep churning of her stomach, as though there were something boiling deep within her soul that urgently needed to be unleashed. She was almost shaking from the physical reaction. Hot tears stung her eyes, but this too was only a physical reaction. There was no emotion attached to the salty stream that trickled down her cheeks.

Her thoughts were racing as well, but it seemed to her to happen much slower that it probably was. Though it hardly registered, she noticed the looks and a few exchanged words of awe and utter shock from the three men around her, but whatever their individual reactions, they went ignored. It occurred to her that if this universe was really all in her mind, she had power here. She had the power to do and change whatever she desired whenever she pleased. She could very possibly possess more power than anyone she could dream up in this world of fantasies. Maybe all she had to do was channel her feelings and use them to shape this reality to her will.

With her mind set, she was faintly aware of her body moving by itself to stand close to Isamu. It was almost like an out-of-body experience, except that she was looking out at the world from the eyes of her physical form despite being almost completely detached; a dream, but not a dream. Someone new entered the tent and said something, but she couldn't hear the voices of anyone around her anymore, nor could she see them. She was only aware of their existence and the changes in their energy. Gathering power from the well of energy and emotions that had built up within her, she closed her eyes and let the desire for change consume her.

That was the last thing she remembered.

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**Okay, maybe I can out do myself. Sort of.**

**By the way, _dreamer_nobody979_, I'm gonna take you up on your suggestion to make Haruhi pretend to be a boy. I got stuck in the middle of this chapter and it was just the push I needed to get going. In fact, it gave me a BRAIN BLAST of an idea, so THANK YOU!!!! YOU ROCK!!!!! Please, if anyone else has a suggestion, don't be afraid to tell me. I get stuck kinda often, so suggestions might be a HUGE help! Also, don't be disappointed if I don't use your suggestion. It very well might come into play a little later (plus I tend to edit a lot, so as unlikely as it might be, it's possible that you'll change something in a past chapter), so you're not wasting your time, I promise.**

**Anyway, please don't forget to review!  
**


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